You remind me of someone
by fact-and-fiction
Summary: It was a normal day at camp until four centaurs carrying a certain Golden trio and an unconscious death eater appears. Annabeth wasn't ready for this, especially since Percy's still missing.
1. I meet the golden trio

It was a fairly normal morning that day at Camp Half-blood, and that was a reasonable statement, considering that they had gone through much worse, so centaurs suddenly invading the camp weren't exactly that huge of a surprise to them. Well, to Annabeth anyway. She knew centaurs didn't only live in Camp Half-blood, there were a lot more outside the camp, and she also knew that the centaurs couldn't invade the camp if they weren't somehow magical (other than the fact that they were centaurs, of course). Still, she was curious, so she joined the crowd, wanting to know what their reason was for invading camp.

There were about four of them, but she realized that wasn't the cause of the commotion. Each of them had a person riding them, and they didn't look like they knew where they were. In fact, they looked terrified, and Annabeth noticed one of them was unconscious. She decided it was time for her to take charge, since Chiron wasn't there yet, and the other campers were either too young or too in awe to do anything. She muttered a few excuses and finally got within a close enough distance towards them. The whispers stopped, as both the campers and the intruders looked at her expectantly. A girl with wild, brown hair and wearing a red-brown cloak, holding what appears to be a stick, got off the centaur and took shaky steps towards her.

"May I ask, where exactly are we?" she asked Annabeth. She couldn't help but notice just how terrified she looked, flinching every few seconds, looking worriedly at her unconscious friend. "Well…" Annabeth hesitated, they sure do look like they had been running away from something, a monster most likely, as other demigods face…and they were riding centaurs…what else would they be? "You're at Camp Half-Blood. I assume all of you are demigods? Don't worry, no monsters could pass the magical barrier, and we'll take care of you, you might want to meet Chiron first, he's in charge here. I'm Annabeth, by the way," she extended her hand towards the girl. She wasn't much older than her, in fact, they seemed to be of the same age. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Hermione," shaking Annabeth's hand, then gestured to her three friends, "The black-haired one is Harry, next to him is Ron, and the unconscious one is…is Draco Malfoy."

Her voice cracked at the last name, worried sick Annabeth assumed, though she didn't understand why she hesitated on his name. But yes, Annabeth definitely understood why she's like that. At least he's not missing, lost his memories and possibly kissing another girl somewhere else, she thought as she saw Hermione's eyes tearing a little. Annabeth nodded to the boys, also more or less her age, and ordered some of the campers to send the unconscious one to get some medical attention. He didn't seemed hurt badly, just a few scratches, and decided that ambrosia wasn't necessary. "Will he be ok?" one of the boys, Harry, asked. Annabeth turned to look at him, and then said, "I think so. What had caused him to faint?" Harry and Hermione exchanged looks, and Annabeth understood enough that they weren't ready to tell. "It's okay. Maybe you'd like to tell Chiron, I guess. Come on. It's just up that hill."


	2. War and doom Yeah, I can relate to that

Chiron was talking to Leo, Jason and Piper as they entered, minus the centaurs, they were waiting outside. "Percy contacted Tyson in a dream? That's the first in months! I assume you are ready to go on with your journey?" Chiron said. Annabeth had already heard the news from Jason last night, and yet her chest still aches from the fear that he might not remember her. Annabeth cleared her throat, ensuring that Hermione and the other two are still behind her. "Ah, Annabeth, I see you've got new campers? Jason, Leo, Piper, we shall discuss more on this later," Chiron said, a smile on his face. Jason and the others excused themselves, each of them having a determined look on their face. Annabeth was proud of them, risking themselves to find Percy, a boy they had never met. But that was a matter to be thought later.

"Chiron, this is Hermione, Harry and Ron. They arrived here riding centaurs, and one of their friend-"Acquaintance," Ron, the red-haired boy, muttered. "One of their friends is unconscious." She ushered for the three new demigods to present themselves. It was Hermione who walked front first, offering her hand, saying, "Hermione Granger, I am pleased to meet you. These are Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, we are truly sorry to intrude." Chiron chuckled and shook her hand; she was more or less like Annabeth. "The pleasure is mine, Hermione. Please, call me Chiron. For now, I am the camp director. May I ask, what happened to you?" The trio shared glances. Hermione nodded, and Harry stepped out.

"We have to be sure first," Harry's voice dropped into a whisper, "Is anybody listening in?" Chiron paused, then shook his head and ushered for him to go on. "Okay, listen. I know this might be hard for your muggle minds to understand, but seeing that you sir are a centaur, and many of the children here are not exactly surprised by our appearance, you have to at least try to believe us. We're wizards from Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry in London, but there has been a war going in on the wizard world. A war that all of us have to stop, before the rest of the world is doomed as it falls into the wrong hands, in Voldemort's hands, to be precise. Right now, many lives are being ripped away, and honestly, we should be there and try to prevent it, until Malfoy was about to kill our headmaster, Dumbledore, but couldn't because…" Harry scrunched up his brows. "I don't know why, really, he was never good in the first place. Since he couldn't do it, Professor Snape, a traitor, aimed to kill Dumbledore instead. But Malfoy threw himself in front, saving our headmaster, but leaving him… the way he was when we arrived here."

Annabeth's eyes widened as she heard this, it was all too much to process, which rarely happened to her. Chiron, however, seemed to understood everything he said as if it all made sense. Which, of course, to Annabeth, didn't. "I see. Is Albus alright?" Chiron asked. Harry nodded. Annabeth was still processing. Wizards…war…world doom…friend saving headmaster… okay, she finally got used to it. At least, to the war and world doom part, that she could relate to. "How did you get here?" She asked, all three heads turning to her, "I mean, centaurs are fast and all… but from England to the States? That's sort of impossible." "We had to search for a portkey, since Hogwarts was far away and my home was nearer,, so we got a ride from the centaurs," Ron, the red-head, piped up. She didn't know why, but he reminded her of a weasel.

'What's a portkey?' she wanted to ask, but Chiron asked them, "So all of you happened to transport here?" Ron reddened. Definitely like a weasel. "Well- I just thought wherever Hermione was going, I'm going too," he said. Hermione turned to him. "Are you serious, Ron, do you have to rely on me on everything? Thank Merlin we thought for somewhere far, safe and comfortable, right, Harry?" At this, Harry too had a slight blush creeping up his pale cheeks. "It's really hard to think while being chased by Death Eaters, Hermione," he reasoned. "Oh, you lot!" she huffed. "I can assure you that you've reached the right place then, Camp Half-blood is far enough away, comfortable as soon as we place you under Hecate, and as safe as it could be- most of the time," Chiron announced.

Hermione was slightly alarmed on his statement that the camp was safe most of the time, but she had to admit it was better than being chased by Death Eaters and sleeping on uncomfortable forest floors. Then she realized something important. "What about Malfoy?" she said, before realizing out of habit she used his last name. Chiron didn't notice this, but unfortunately, Annabeth did. "I thought his first name was Draco? Why are you calling him by his last name?" Annabeth asked, her grey eyes looking intently at Hermione. _Just like Malfoy's_, she thought. "We're not that close," she said, "You know, just classmates." Annabeth nodded but still had that searching look on her face.

"Don't worry, I will check up on him later, and will tell you when he would recover," Chiron answered Hermione's question. He clapped his hands, and then smiled at them with a twinkle in his eyes. "Annabeth, lead them to their cabin. Get ready for dinner, and after that, no exceptions, it'll be time for Capture the Flag!"


	3. Hogwarts, Hecate and Bloody Hell

Everyone gave the trio curious looks as Annabeth led them out of the big house, walking down the path to the cabins. Hermione and the others didn't seem to mind; however, maybe they were used to it. Annabeth made her way towards the minor gods' cabins; Hades, Iris, Hypnos, Nemesis, Nike, all the way to the end, Hecate. Harry, Ron and Hermione simultaneously stopped talking as they reached a cabin that resembled a castle. Few symbols were displayed on the walls, that Annabeth had no idea what it meant. Kids of Hecate were either respected or made a joke. They were respected if they knew their magic, but if they don't and blow up stuff, you tend to get picked on. It doesn't help that they're not so good with weapons, either.

Hermione couldn't help but look at it in somewhat fascination. What Annabeth and the other campers didn't realize (except for the children of Hecate, of course) was that the cabin was cast with a spell that made it look like what the person expects it to be. Thus due to all the books that Annabeth have read, there were a lot of features of the cabin that for Annabeth spelled out 'witch'. What Annabeth also didn't realize was that the other campers see it as a haunted house, the main reason why most of them don't hang around the cabin and why the kids of Hermes never played a prank on them. To Hermione, the cabin was an exact replica of Hogwarts, except that it's smaller, of course. She doubted the library was copied, but she saw as she got in that the rooms were the exact same ones like hers, there was even a Gryffindor common room.

"So… this will be your home for the time being. All of you'll sleep in this room," Annabeth pointed to an area with many beds, and to Hermione's shocked look, she added, "Don't worry; there's enough beds for everyone. The others are probably doing their own spells and such right now. Don't want to disturb and cause an explosion again." Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows at that, and muttered something that sounds like, "Neville will fit in here, that's for sure" with Ron agreeing. Even Hermione silently agreed, but said, "No, that's not it. Are you saying we're sleeping _in the same room_?" "Yeah, I mean, since you said the three of you are wizards that means you're the children of the goddess Hecate. Why would it be a problem?" Annabeth said nonchalantly.

Ron seems to understand the difficulty. "The problem is we're not related! Bloody hell woman, we don't even look the same!" he exclaimed. Annabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I know that, but you're the children of Hecate, so you're still more or less related!" Comprehension dawned in Hermione's brown eyes. "Are you saying me, Ron and Harry are brothers and sister?" she squeaked. "Half-brothers and sister, but yes," Annabeth stated. "How?" Harry asked. Annabeth scrutinized each and every one of them. To Hermione, she said, "Both your parents have diluted god blood in them, and when you're born it becomes concentrated in you." Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows. "But one of your grandparents is also a child of Athena… and that trait seems to have been passed down to you. But still, the blood of Hecate is more powerful in you."

Annabeth then turned to Ron. "You… have demigods as parents, both the children of Hecate. It would seem like incest, but for demigods, it doesn't really matter since your parents are most likely very distant relatives. The blood is somewhat strong in you, but it's diluted since you have so many siblings." All Ron could do was staring blankly at her, and choke when she said his parents were distantly related. Bloody hell, what has come of the world? Lastly, she turned to Harry. Her features softened. She finally had a good look at him, and she had just realized how his hair was as black and disheveled as Percy's, and how his eyes were just like the fierce ocean that she had seen in Percy's eyes. Even his jaw was set like Percy. The ache in her chest appeared again, and this time, she couldn't dissipate it.

Softly, she said, "Neither your parents were demigods. Your mother was Hecate herself, disguising as a mortal. She fell in love with James Potter, got married and had you. You survived because the dark lord could not compete with the goddess of sorcery herself. But even using her energy to protect you wears her, a goddess, out. So that part of her died, which explains why the goddess is strict to her children and force them to practice their magic. She couldn't protect every single one of her children herself. That mark on your forehead," Annabeth gingerly touched it, "marks the sacrifice of the goddess herself to protect you. You're special, Harry."

Harry jolted out of his trance, as if shocked, and Annabeth pulled away. "I'm sorry, that's probably too personal, I shouldn't have said it; gods, being a child of Athena is so hard sometimes," Annabeth rattled, but stopped as Harry said, "Nobody's ever called me that before." Her grey eyes just settled on the ocean in his eyes, but he seemed distant yet close at the same time. "I mean, nobody's ever said I was special without saying that I had to die after that. It's always, 'You're special Potter, but that mark on your forehead will bring you death one day', except for you." He was smiling now. Gods, how everything lit up when he smiled… "Thank you," he whispered. Annabeth felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. "You're welcome."

Annabeth realized how Hermione and the weasel were staring at them, so she pulled herself together, clearing her throat. "So, bathroom's that way, pick a bed, there're clothes in trunks at the foot of the bed, dinner's in an hour, you can follow your cabin mates, see you!" she said hurriedly, then was about to dash to the door until she skidded, turned, and said, "Capture the flag's after that. Your team's your cabin. Pick a weapon, no magic allowed. Good luck!"


	4. Accusations, Anniebeth and Apprehension

**I must admit, just seeing many people reading this makes me happy. BUT! I thought it was pretty obvious that you have to read & review. I mean, how am I supposed to know if I should continue this because it's awesome or stop because it's crappy? So please, review First person who does will be named a child of Hecate in the next chapter for you-know-what. So. Read, Enjoy, and review!**

"What was that?" Hermione accused pointedly. "What was what?" Harry said, hoping playing dumb would get her off his back. "Don't you play dumb with me, Harry, I'm asking what was that thing that was going on between you and her!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry glared at her. "She's got a name, Hermione, use it. Plus I don't know what you're talking about," he replied. Hermione huffed. "Right. Do you want me to spell it out for you? Why were you making those lovesick eyes at Anniebeth? You've already got Ginny, who's probably worried sick right now!" Harry set a stone-cold look at her. "If I remember correctly, the last time we met, she slapped me, so I hardly think we're together, Hermione. And what is your problem with Annabeth? She's smart, understanding, caring, she could be your best friend!" he yelled.

"Ginny slapped you because she thought you were playing her when she saw you talking to Cho Chang, who rarely gets turned down by boys, so it's understandable why she did that!" she reasoned, "And as for Annabeth- I agree with you, but it's quite unnerving when you meet someone that is just like you. I know we would probably get on well, but knowing that she might be smarter than me? Know more than me? It's unsettling. I guess… I guess I'm just apprehensive. I'm sorry, Harry." He relaxed. "It's okay, Hermione. We should probably get ready. You want to shower first? Ron's already sleeping there." Hermione smiled. "Sure," she said as she picked things from a trunk, and as she went to the bathroom, she turned and said, " You two look good together, by the way." Harry blushed; not knowing what to answer next.

**Yes, I kept it short on purpose. Since nobody bothered to review… I've already written the next chapter, though. Review, and I might post it sooner ;)**


	5. Ambrosia, not Amnesia

**I know I said this was supposed to be the you-know-what event, but I'm still feeling uninspired by the lack of reviews. I'll probably do it later, or tomorrow, or the day after that… depending on… you guessed it: reviews. Thank you very much though, to for reviewing. That at least made me want to write this longer chapter (compared to the last). As promised, I will use your name later in the story~ just wait patiently for maybe two chapters Review!**

Annabeth made her way to the camp's infirmary, trying to take her mind of the boy she just met that made her feel unsettled, and focus on the boy that was missing and probably needed her instead… maybe. What month was it now? June? August? More than half a year since his disappearance, with no clue to his whereabouts or his condition. Correction: Jason said he was most likely at the Roman camp, all due to Hera's plans. Percy won't like it if he knew of it. But most likely, he didn't. Annabeth stopped mulling over it and concentrated on the present instead, and the present right now was Chiron checking up on the unconscious demigod.

Walking up to Chiron, she asked, "How is he?" Chiron looked at her with a little bit of worry in his eyes. "Physically, he's fine, but he's had some blow on the inside, so I gave him a little ambrosia." "What do you mean?" "If I'm not mistaken, he's been hit with a very powerful, dangerous spell. What was it called? Abba? Abracadabra?" "Avada Kedavra," a raspy voice said from the bed. A pair of grey eyes very much identical to Annabeth's looked back at them. He groaned as he tried to sit up; his suit was removed as they patched him up; a few bandages covered his arms and chest. "Where the bloody hell am I?" he grunted, assessing the area. "The infirmary. How are you feeling?" Chiron asked. He jerked, apparently astonished that a centaur was talking to him. He scrutinised the bandages on his body, moved them, and said, "Actually, I feel quite fine. Strange, considering I was hit with a killing spe-"He stopped, realising something wasn't right.

"Who are you? Where am I? You're not muggles, are you?" he eyed them suspiciously. _Somehow, that word sounds insulting;_ Annabeth thought and kept in mind she should probably ask Harry what it meant. "We're at Camp Half-blood, and judging from your reaction, we're probably your saviours," she answered. His grey eyes glared at her. It's really unsettling. _Maybe that's why they're so scared of me_ she mused, referring to some of the new campers. "How did I survive? That curse was supposed to have killed me, so why am I still alive?" he asked to Chiron, paying no attention to her. _How dare he-_ her eyes now matched the storm of his eyes. "I'm not sure and do not know much of your magic, but we gave you ambrosia, and that probably helped a lot," he answered. "Amnesia? Why would you give me amnesia? I don't feel like I have amnesia." "Ambrosia, for healing," Chiron corrected, and then asked, "What's your name?" The guy seemed reluctant to answer, but said, "Draco Malfoy."

"Well, rest up, you can probably have dinner with us, and-" "Malfoy!" Hermione and Harry entered, both of them hurriedly getting to his bed. His eyebrows shot up in confusion. "Granger? What are you- oof!" he said as Hermione suddenly hugged him. _Aw, how sweet, but what's with the last names?_ Annabeth thought as she looked at them, wondering how nice it must be to know that the one you love is alright… then stopped as she witnessed Draco pushing her away, shouting, "Look at who you're touching, mudblood! I don't want you to soil me with your dirty self!" Now if Percy had said that to her, Annabeth would probably feel hurt and slapped him, but instead of what Annabeth expected her to do, Hermione just shrugged off the comment, as if it was a common occurrence. "You almost got killed, Malfoy, for saving Dumbledore, I would probably hug Voldemort if he was in your place!" she stated. Harry shifted uncomfortably, "Hermione, that's going overboard. Are you really going to do that if he did?"

Hermione glowered at him. "Of course not, Harry, it was just a figure of speech!" She turned to Draco. "How are you feeling? Harry barely casted an expelliarmus as Voldemort casted that spell. He could block most of it, but he was weak, so some hit you." Draco averted his gaze to Harry. "You, Potter? You saved me?" disbelief was clear in his voice. Harry grimaced, and said, "Before you threw yourself to him, it was Dumbledore who was in your spot, remember? But I guess it's better that you're here instead of him." "I could have died, and you say it's better that it's me than that old bat?" he growled, getting up from the bed. "I saved your worthless life, Malfoy. You owe me," Harry gritted through his teeth. "Oh, I owe the famous Harry Potter? I am so honoured! What have I done to deserve such a wonderful endowment?" he snarled sarcastically. "Boys," Hermione was about to say, but she was beaten by Annabeth, who said, "Guys, cut it out. Other people are trying to rest here." As soon as she said it, Harry calmed down, and said, "Sorry, Annabeth." Surprisingly, Malfoy begrudgingly obeyed too, muttering what sounded like, "Better be thankful you're pretty…" The dislike Hermione had for her was rising again.

"Alright then, seeing that you seem to be fine, then Draco, you may join Capture the flag tonight," Chiron announced. He immediately pounced from his bed. "Join capture the what? Have you gone insane? I am still injured!" he exclaimed, pointing to his bruises and cuts. Chiron waved him off, chuckling. "Oh, you'll be fine, especially since I gave you the ambrosia. You'll be as good as new later tonight." "But-" "Everyone, let us leave and give Draco the rest he needs," Harry, Hermione and Annabeth moved as he talked, him, too, leaving, "Don't forget your armour and sword!" Draco was left befuddled and wondering if he was joking.


	6. Myths, Medea and Mageia

**So… I am still disappointed with the lack of reviews, which explains why this took so long. If it was possible, I now have a higher respect for Rick Riordan than before, because researching on Greek mythology is NOT easy. Majority of the myths I wrote down there are true, or as true as Greek myth can be. But like Rick Riordan, I also add up a few things for fun. Medea really did curse Jason, but if he died or not, I'm not sure. Some said that Medea is a daughter of Hecate, but others said she is just a witch that worships her. Either way, I'm going with her being Hecate's daughter. So… read, enjoy, and review please! **

**Disclaimer: No, I am not the daughter of Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling. If so, then I'm sure 'mom' and 'dad' wouldn't appreciate me making a story out of their characters.**

Harry, Hermione and Ron followed the Hecate kids as they finished showering. All three of them wore identical orange Camp Half-Blood, but each had a different motif. Harry's: "With great power... comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later." Hermione's: "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search." And Ron's: "What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades' underwear?" Harry and Hermione burst out laughing at that. "It was the only one available!" Ron complained, "And why are you laughing? Who in the bloody hell is Hades?" A few minutes after, Hermione finally managed to catch her breath and compose herself. "Hades…," she struggled not to laugh again, "Hades is the god of death in Greek mythology, and he lives in the underworld." "The underworld?" Ron asked. "Yes, the underworld, as in the place for dead people, where we go after we die," she explained. "Hopefully, we won't be going there too soon," Harry muttered, but they heard. The dark, gloomy mood was back again, and they couldn't take it away.

Soon, they were in the dining hall, Harry trying to finish his food, Hermione demurely eating hers, while Ron ate as if there was no tomorrow. When Hermione had a good look at her cabin-mates, she realised just how diligent they were. Each in one way or another was constantly practising magic, but the spells they use were different than the ones taught at Hogwarts. They also acted queerly; before they ate they burned some parts of their food, mostly the roasted lambs. When Ron gave them looks of disbelief, probably because he thought how they were wasting food, they mistook it for misunderstanding, and simply said, "Sacrifice for mother. Any food would do, but she particularly favours lambs. She likes honey and dogs, too." Ron choked for the second time that day. Hermione started to think of this matter, the claims that they were the children of the goddess Hecate. Back at Hogwarts, there were thousands of books in the library, and a few of them were on Greek mythology. Truth be told, Hermione had already read most of them, and even once thought that if the Greek gods do exist, then she would probably be somehow related to the goddess. And now that it was true... it was hard to believe.

A sudden thought confused her, and she attempted for a conversation with one of her cabin-mates, and supposedly, half-siblings. "All of us on this table are children of Hecate, am I correct?" A girl with dark hair and strange violet eyes glanced at her. "Yes, all of us on this table are indeed the children of Hecate. The three of you do _mageia,_ right?" Hermione furrowed her brows. "Mageia?" she asked. "It's the Greek word for magic," she explained, "All of you can do magic?"Harry nodded. Hermione said, "Yes, with our wands. I don't understand, actually. How could we be the children of Hecate if she is a maiden?" The girl pursed her lips. "Well, during the night as the goddess of magic, then yes, she is a maiden. But during the day, as the goddess of crossroads, then she is not." "I don't get it," Harry said bluntly. "Gods have many forms, and Hecate has two. At day, she influences farming, but at night, she practices magic and witchcraft. It is said that she married a minor sea god, Porkys, and had a child named Scylla, but a few times she is also said to be with Hermes." She scrunched her nose. "I hope that's not true. Those Hermes kids are unendurable; thank gods they had some sense not to prank us anymore."

Hermione was about to ask some more, until a horn was heard, and all the campers started to get out. The girl stood up too, saying, "It's time for capture the flag. Don't worry; it always sucks the first time. My name is Medea, by the way." Hermione paused. "When you say Medea, do you mean the woman that cursed Jason so he could get the Golden Fleece and..." "Of course not!" she said, but waved her hand; unbothered by it. "But yes, my dad named me after her. Crazy, huh? He said he admired a woman with cunningness like that. I'm like, sure, dad, why not, it's not like I'm going to be considered evil when my name is in honour of a witch that was killed for murder!" Ron and Harry started to laugh at this, until Hermione gave them death glares.

All the campers gathered outside in a circle, with Chiron in the middle. "Heroes," he started, "You know the rules. No maiming, no killing. Not more than two people guarding a flag." Some campers started copying everything he said at the same time, as if they've been hearing this every time, and it never changes. Apparently, Chiron seemed to notice this too. "All right, then. Pick your weapons." Many kinds of weapons, ranging from what to Hermione looked like bronze swords, to bows and arrows, even a club. _What would a club be of use for when you could have a sword?_ She thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a giant kid with an unsightly face hit another giant kid with also an unsightly face on the head, and from the looks of the way he reacted, it must have hurt. _I stand corrected;_ she looked in horror as they kept hitting each other.

She realised that everybody were busy picking out their weapons, except for her, Ron and Harry, who had appalled look on their faces. She was surprised at how well she was taking this all in, and how it seemed normal for her. Well, almost all, the giant kids hitting each other was unspeakable for her, even if they weren't bleeding or hurt anywhere. Medea glanced at them, already picking out a bow and arrows for her offence, and was now putting on armour for defence. "Well? Aren't you going to pick your weapons? The best ones are running low; you don't want to have just a knife when somebody's attacking you, do you? Besides, wands aren't allowed," she told them. "But- we don't fight well without our wands," Harry said. "Don't fight well? We'd die without it!" Ron argued. "None of us do," Medea admitted, "Us I mean Hecate kids. Hand-to-hand combat don't really work with us, even if we have swords. Thus why we use these," she motioned to her bow and arrows, "Not only are they useful, but we're naturally good at them. I suspect because Hecate is cousins with Artemis and Apollo. Maybe that's why Hecate has two personalities day and night, because Artemis is the moon and Apollo is the sun. Huh." Hermione noticed all of her other half-siblings were using that too. "Why?" The only reason she could think of was because it was good for long-range; easier to dodge any possible injuries. A mischievous smile crept up Medea's features. "Chiron only said no wands allowed. He never mentioned anything about charms on these."

Comprehension dawned on Hermione, and she exclaimed, "Brilliant! What charm did you put?" "Shh! Other campers don't know of our strategy. At least, the ones with Ares cabin don't," she glimpsed at the campers wearing helmets with red horse-hair plumes on top. "We usually aim for their thighs, it really doesn't affect them when they wake, and they never remember what happened to them." "When they wake?" Ron asked, wide-eyed. Medea nodded, "We charm them to sleep, only to wake few hours later. They won't feel pain, and they won't remember anything. Got to hand it to Annabeth for asking if we do such charms." Hermione pulled a face. "I've never heard of such a charm before," she declared. Medea shrugged. "Hypnos had a thing for Hecate; taught her how to do it, but being Hecate, she made some improvements. Now, are you going to pick a weapon or what?"

The three of them walked to what minutes ago had been a pile of weapons you could only imagine to get your hands on, now just a clutter of two knives, a broken club, five bamboo skewers and... A reed pipe? Ron picked it up, chortling. "What good will this do, are we supposed to bleed our enemies to death with our dreadful playing?" Hermione glared at him again. "I was only joking..." he muttered. Medea picked up a bamboo skewer and handed it over to Hermione. "This would do." Medea revealed a wand of her own, looked around for spies, and after seeing there were none, she whispered, "_í__̱__sycho ýpno_." Hermione looked at her with scrutiny. "What language is that?" Most of the spells Hermione know were derived from Latin words. "Greek," Medea replied simply. She tilted her head towards one of the giant kids that Hermione had observed earlier. "Try it," she instructed. Hermione just looked at her with uncertainty. What did she want her to do? Stab his thigh with the bamboo skewer? Medea sighed, grabbed the bamboo skewer from her hands, and with swiftness she blew into the bamboo skewer towards the giant kid. A second later, he fell to the ground, sound asleep. "Aren't these illegal?" Ron gulped. "We don't poison them, so there's no harm, really, is there?" Medea said. Not that the other campers knew that, though, so now a few of the campers that were on Ares' side were gone to carry the giant kid to the infirmary.

Suddenly Hermione remembered that Malfoy is in the infirmary. Or at least was, because he seemed fine and Chiron wanted him to join this 'Capture the Flag' event, though Hermione couldn't understand its significance to the campers. Her eyes searched the crowd for the hauntingly familiar grey eyes and platinum blonde hair. She finally saw it, but then realised it was Annabeth, making her way towards them. "You know the plan, Medea?" she asked as she reached them. Medea nodded, but for conformation, asked, "Guarding the flag from afar. Anyone within a mile range, shoot. I guess... these guys do the same?" "What weapon have they got?" Annabeth asked. "Cherokees," she answered. Now it made sense to Hermione. The usual Cherokees she saw on television back home were made of wood, and used by Africans. Annabeth contemplated this for a second, then decided, "No, then there would be too many people attacking just a few attackers. Let Ron be on defence, Harry and Hermione, you're with me on offense." The three of them nodded, although Hermione nodded begrudgingly. She was not used to taking orders from someone else that was her age, because at Hogwarts, she was the one who made the entire important verdicts. After Medea charmed three more Cherokees, a spare one for her, and once Harry, Ron and Hermione put on their armour and helmets with blue horse-hair plume, they were ready.

"Any more questions before we head on our separate ways?" Annabeth asked. Hermione was anxious to ask about Malfoy. Not that she was concerned about that ferret, of course, but he _had_ saved Professor Dumbledore's life. Before she could pluck the courage to ask, however, Harry had already asked. "Where's Malfoy?" Hermione could see the distaste in Annabeth's eyes; she supposed that during their first meeting Annabeth could already see what a git Malfoy was. That thought made Hermione warm up to her a bit. "I don't know why, but he's joined forces with Clarisse, the Ares cabin's leader. Scratch that, Clarisse has probably bribed him to join." Harry looked confused. "Malfoy's not interested in money." Blandly, Annabeth answered, "She didn't bribe him with money. She bribed him with power." It made perfect sense. Hermione raised her hand, a habit she never seems to shake off. "Question, Hermione?" She lowered her hand, and queried, "I thought that cabins were supposed to stick together." "They were," Annabeth sighed, bewildered, "But Chiron made an exception this time, because he hasn't exactly been claimed yet, though it's clear to me that he's a son of Hecate." "Blimey, if all witches and wizards were children of Hecate, then every one of us at Hogwarts would be related! Imagine, related to Snape and Parkinson!" Ron murmured to Harry, who snorted because of holding back a laugh.

Simultaneously, Hermione and Annabeth rolled their eyes. Neither of them bothered to explain that most likely, the witches and wizards now have their power from their ancestors' legacy. "Anything else?" Annabeth asked wearily. No one answered. "All right then. Ron and Medea, head towards our base down south. Harry and Hermione, follow me. Get your weapons ready, and look out. We need to capture a boar flag."

**May I inform you that this chapter is almost three times as long as my usual chapters, but I guess it was fun to write all these myths and such though it took me days. **_**í̱sycho ýpno **_**means 'peaceful sleep', by the way****.** **To show your appreciation, please review. Have a nice day! Oh, and good luck to those of you that are taking GCSEs this time like me. Boohoohoo, 3 more weeks... Make my day, okay?**

**-NK**


	7. Lost & Found

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own anything of the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson series, I just mix them up to see what would happen. Thank you so much to rainfall-star07 for the advice, I tried to do the best as I could. I just love paragraphs, sorry! And thank you too to zypherblaze, Annabeth M Chase, Daughter of Artemis, everyone who kept up with this. Appreciate it very much! I kept worrying if you'll be waiting, so this update's for you guys!**

**No, this is not Harry/Annabeth, to answer your… um.. pleading? To me, that's just weird. Those earlier things were just to keep things… realistic, I guess. **

**Again, I'm sorry, but no, this isn't exactly Percabeth. The Harry potter gang would not have appeared in the first place if it was. If you don't want to read anything other than it, then… I suggest you search for the hundreds of Percabeth fanfictions. Great ones out there. But I do hope you give this a chance **

Draco didn't know what to think about his new partner in crime, Clarisse. Sure, he admits that she's gorgeous in a conniving way, and it's no doubt that if she went to Hogwarts, she would be a pure Slytherin. But she was also brave and had a strong will- the sorting hat would have a headache deciding whether to place her in Slytherin or Gryffindor.

Hence, he decided to keep the relationship strictly as accomplices only. It didn't help that she ordered him on guard duty. _Only when Potter becomes evil and Dumbledore has an alliance with the dark lord, _he thought, but gave her a dazzling smile. And that centaur be damned, he was not going to fight without his wand, although, to be inconspicuous, he chose a bronze sword as a weapon.

As soon as Clarisse was out of sight and he heard the conch shell blown, he abandoned his post, running away from the other guard's protests. He stopped running when he couldn't hear any more noise, assessing his surroundings.

The canopy of the forest was thick, and only few rays of moonlight managed to penetrate though the thick foliage. A stream was gushing to his right, and he ran to it, thankful for the water since he was sweating like mad.

_And no way in hell am I wearing this,_ he chucked the helmet away with distaste. Unconsciously, he brushed his hair with his other hand, keeping his looks in check. He smirked as he threw away his sword and took out his wand, not risking a Lumos for he might be caught. Still, he felt in power; there's no doubt that he would be the one to 'capture' this 'flag'. _Come out; come out, wherever you are, Potter._

Annabeth had lost sight of Harry once the conch shell horned, and cursed herself for forgetting that hundreds of other campers would be running at the same time as well. So now instead of following the plan to attack the enemy base quietly without them knowing their location, Annabeth and Hermione were practically giving out their position by screaming Harry's name.

"Gods, this is so not according to plan! Where _is _he?" Annabeth muttered.

"Probably wandering off, as usual. Who knows what will happen to him, he won't do without me!" Hermione exclaimed.

Annabeth sharply glanced at her, and then scoffed, glaring without realization. "Won't do without you? What are you, his mother?"

It was Hermione's turn to glare at her. "No, I am his friend, and if it weren't for me, he would be dead right now."

"Yeah, what a great job you did, you'd do anything to save his life even if it meant that you had to sacrifice Draco's life instead," the remark was out before she even realized it, and Annabeth had no idea where it came from. Even more shocking was that Hermione was sensitive about this subject, as she blurted out, "It's not our fault! How would we know that Malfoy would throw himself in front of Professor Dumbledore? And of course Harry would protect him!" Even though it was dark, Annabeth could see her eyes were brimming with tears. "He's… he's Harry," Hermione finished weakly.

It dawned on Annabeth that maybe, just maybe, to Hermione, Harry was more than just a friend. There was a dull ache in her chest, but she shook it away. She took tentative steps towards the minutes ago composed, now broken girl. Hermione didn't bother to hide her worry anymore, tears were streaking down her face as she desperately tried to wipe them off. She jumped when Annabeth put an arm around her, but calmed when she said, "I shouldn't have said that about Harry and Draco and all. I didn't know… how important he was to you. I'm sorry."

Hermione regained her composure, and stood straight. Taking a deep breath, she said quietly, "It's all right. I suppose you wouldn't understand when someone you care is always out of your sight and has a knack for danger." She smiled to Annabeth. "Thank you."

But Annabeth wasn't listening, or even considering about being friends with her anymore, because she understood it all too well. The constant worry, the sleepless nights, the endless nightmares. For eight months now, but the pain was still raw, as if it had just happened yesterday. But it didn't. The scars on her wrist proved that.

"Annabeth?"

"Let's split up, it's much easier that way. If you happen to come across the enemy's base, don't hesitate, get the flag. I'll take north, you'll take west. I'll see you later."

"But-"

Annabeth was already gone.

Harry didn't realize he left Hermione and Annabeth until he found himself all alone in a part of the forest that was far from the starting point. Thanks to his near- death experiences, he wasn't even surprised, or panicked. He had handled being alone a few times before, the first when he had the sorcerer's stone. He would just have to manage.

He started to consider his options for the time being. Find the flag? That was very unlikely, in a forest this big. Besides, if he did find the flag, what would he do with the guards?

Harry doubted he could do even a measly stupefy without his wand. Plus, his shooting skills were pitiful. When he tried to aim a tree trunk of an Oak, he missed completely. He found out later that he missed by approximately two meters when he walked past to the left of the Oak.

What would he do if he came across an enemy? Surrender? Beg for mercy? Try to shoot the tree that's two meters to his right so that it will hit him?

Harry was walking blindly without any directions when he thought this, the trees and scenery around him never seeming to be changing. That is, until out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red. Astonished, he turned, wondering if it was just an illusion. But it wasn't. There, just a few meters ahead of him, was the red flag, fluttering lightly in the night summer breeze, high on a rock that was oddly shaped, like a fist, unprotected.

_Unprotected?_ Harry stopped in his tracks.

Where were the two enemy guards?

He circled the area, and found that one of them was behind the rock, back against it, knocked out cold or simply asleep, he didn't know, though he suspected it was the latter. Why knock the guard out and leave the flag? Harry circled the area once more, and after finding that there really wasn't any trap or such, and it really was unprotected, he looked around and made a run for it.

He was getting giddy when he almost reached it. _I can't believe this. I'm going to win! I'm going to win! I'm going to-_

"Wargh!" Harry fell flat on his face. He groaned, starting to feel stupid, until he heard a snicker behind him. He turned, reaching for the pocket where he always kept his wand. But realized that there was no pocket, and he left his wand at the cabin.

"Honestly, Potter, did you think it would be that easy?"

Only one person could sound so superior yet egoistical at the same time. "Malfoy," Harry gritted through his teeth when his enemy appeared from the shadows, brandishing his famous smirk, although, seeing him do that while wearing armor was admittedly weird. Harry could only imagine what he looked like on the ground.

Malfoy revealed his wand, pointing it to Harry's face. "You know, Potter, never did I see that this day would come, where you would kneel before me asking for mercy."

"Only in a million years," Harry spat. "Get your wand out of my face, Malfoy."

"Or what?"

**Cliffie! Or is it? Maybe. I have an idea, really, of what's happening next, just tweaking it up with a few more researches… But anyways, review! The more, the sooner updates will be posted!**

**-NK**


	8. Memories and Misery

**Hello there again! This chapter's maybe a little different than usual, it's more… deep inside the thoughts of one person. And mostly from Annabeth's POV. Dedications to… Daughter of Artemis and Lexia Daughter Of Athena :) Do you really want to know the pairings? Won't it be a spoiler? ._. Oh, well. Main pairing for now(or in this case, in the future) is Draco/Annabeth. Because I'm curious.**

The first time Annabeth heard that Percy was missing was from Grover. She was on her way to the dining hall for breakfast; still busy planning on her architecture for Olympus.

Zeus, being the impatient god that he is, insisted that two months of planning was enough for the grandeur of his home, but Annabeth, being the perfectionist that she is, insisted more that it wasn't enough and still needed its finishing touches.

"To match the supremacy of its proprietor," Annabeth answered sweetly when Zeus was close to the edge. Surprisingly, that actually calmed him down, and even added a little glow to his face.

She was still thinking whether or not to heed Apollo's wish to have a spa _and_ a karaoke in the same room, because 'spa without anything is boring', and 'standing while singing all the time is tiring', when Grover ran to her screaming (or bleating?) frantically, "Annabeth! I can't find Percy! He's- BLAAAA-AA!" He tripped.

Even then, after Chiron confirmed it, and other campers promised to look for him when they left that summer, Annabeth didn't really believe it.

_Percy's missing._

_Percy's missing._

_Percy's MISSING._

Countless times the thought swam through her mind, but every time, the thought didn't compute.

It was empty to her, like someone saying, "It's going to rain today."

In her mind, she did believe it. Aphrodite girls were crying, Clarisse was endlessly picking fights, Grover kept coming back from his duties to cry in Juniper's arms, Tyson kept destroying camp when he came to visit, distraught by the empty cabin.

But even though she saw these continuous proofs, her heart didn't accept it. She was as poised as ever. She comforted the Aphrodite girls, she volunteered whenever Clarisse's steam wasn't yet evaporated. She listened to Grover's worries when he became embarrassed with Juniper, and she assured Tyson whenever he wailed that Percy had _not _abandoned him. All through this, yet Annabeth was still held together.

It wasn't until Clarisse accidentally bruised her, at the exact same spot where Percy had once healed her for the first time after Medusa's lair, did the truth finally sunk in. While looking at it, she was actually thinking, _I'd better have Percy heal it for me later. _But then realization hit her._ He's not here._

Annabeth finally snapped then, sobbing uncontrollably while sitting on the bench facing the sea. The same bench she and Percy sat on on his birthday, the day they had defeated Kronos and admitted how relieved they are that the other person is alive.

But that was it.

The only time she had ever let loose. She didn't cry again after that. Her blood did that for her, crying silently from her wrist when she couldn't take it anymore. And she couldn't take it every day.

Annabeth gingerly scratched the scars on her wrists. Most of them were old- scars she had created weeks ago. She knew that how she was acting right now was not like her. Even though in front of her friends and other campers she seemed fine, in truth, she wasn't.

Nightmares reigned in her sleep, memories tortured her wake.

Everywhere she went, she was constantly hounded by him. The lake. Her cabin. The woods. For gods' sake, even the infirmary, where she had first seen him. He was everywhere.

And because he was everywhere, everywhere she had to keep her emotions in check.

Trying to be inconspicuous or not, eyes were on her, keeping tags, wondering how long she would take it. But she would _not_ admit defeat and become weak. Their leader was missing, who knows what will happen when she, too, is out of commission from grief.

So only the cuts could soothe her.

It happened on accident at first, her celestial bronze knife can just as easily hurt her if not monsters. She was on the edge, weeks of searching for the one Hera said would help her find Percy, who was actually Jason, yet to no avail then.

She clutched her knife so hard, she cut herself.

And _nothing _felt better than that release.

Although what she did was stupid, she wasn't _entirely_ stupid. She limited herself to a cut a week. Not in the same place if it's not yet healed. Applied antiseptic and even risking just a little nectar and ambrosia when the bleeding would not stop.

Since Jason arrived, though, her form of coping reduced. In fact, she hardly did it now, now that there was hope that she could see Percy again, just incessant scratching that led to bleeding when she felt at unease.

Right now, she felt more than unease.

She was doing _fine._ She was going to see Percy in a few days once she boards the Argo II with Jason, Leo and Piper tomorrow. But something that Hermione had said to her had set her off. So now her scars are open again.

She stopped, though, she didn't need to be found out and held in the infirmary when she's going to see him in just a few more days. A few more days._ Percy._

Her breathing slowed, and her senses were back.

She wrapped her cuts with a bandage she always brought now, and covered it with her long sleeve.

There. Nothing happened.

Her head was clearer now, and she tried to make sense of where she was. She was sure that she had headed north- but she had trudged through the woods blindly, head too preoccupied to walk in track.

_Great. So now I'm lost. Sure, fates, have some more fun with Annabeth! Oooh, let's not only make her boyfriend missing, let's make __**her**__ missing too! Oh, wouldn't that be such fun!_

"He's not even exactly my boyfriend to begin with," she muttered under her breath. Yes, they went out, but he's never made it official. And that frustrated her more. "Enough of this!" She stomped through the woods, randomly taking turns whenever she wanted to. It wouldn't matter, anyways. Not anymore.

After a few minutes of walking, just visible above the trees, she saw Zeus's fist.

She smiled grimly.

_Oh, wait! Before that, let's torture her with her memories with Percy!_

"Wonderful job, fates. No wonder Hades love you guys," she muttered again, but then heard voices.

"Honestly, Potter, did you think it would be that easy?"

A chill ran through Annabeth's backbone. Vaguely, she remembered Percy's first time of Capture the Flag, and he stumbled upon her flag, which was at that time red. She remembered what she said when he made a reach for it. She came out, brandishing her sword, saying, "Did you honestly think it would be that easy?"

She crouched down, looked around, and saw Harry, down on his knees. The red flag was just a few feet away. Draco had a stick- _wait, that's a wand_- pointed to his face. She inwardly groaned. _Gods, seaweed brain, what have you done now?_

Annabeth jolted at her thought. This wasn't him. This was _Harry._

Before she could contemplate more going to an asylum, Harry said, "Only in a million years. Get your wand out of my face, Malfoy." How it was possible one could be on his knees and still look dignified, Annabeth didn't know. But Harry did it.

Draco sneered. "Or what?"

"Good question," she finally voiced out.

Apparently, none of them noticed that throughout their conversation, if it could be called that, she had inched closer and closer, until finally, she was just a meter behind Draco, hidden in the bushes beside the fist.

Her celestial bronze sword was pointed to the small of his back. _Percy's Achilles point,_ her mind whispered but she shook it away. Draco froze, and Annabeth could practically hear his mind whirring. Did he really think that no one could sneak up on him? Arrogant fool. Harry, on the other hand, just gawked at her. "Annabeth!"

"Annabeth?" Now she could feel his brows furrowing, then easing, as he said, "Oh, the blonde muggle."

He chuckled. "I must say, dear, that you have underestimated Draco Malfoy too much," he turned. "But I suppose I couldn't blame you. What does a muggle know of the purest purebloods of all time?"

"Not much, except that he's a conceited rascal," she pointed the tip of the sword to his jugular now.

His stormy eyes flashed. "What did you call me?"

She leveled her gaze on him, coolly ignoring him, saying, "Harry, don't just sit there gaping. Grab the flag, will you?" It took Harry a few seconds to snap out of it. He grinned. "Of course." Draco glared at him. "Potter! Don't you dare!" he hissed. Harry ignored him, taking his time to get to the flag. More like swaggered to it. Annabeth couldn't help her chortle.

When Draco attempted to move, she pressed the tip harder to him, causing a little scratch. He glared at her more.

Finally, Harry grabbed the flag, raising it over his head, letting his grin split his face as the conch shell's horns were heard in the background. Annabeth lowered her sword after that, and when she saw Draco about to stomp away, she couldn't help but comment, "I must say, dear, that I have estimated you just well." That earned her a death glare, but she couldn't care less, as now she was celebrating with Harry, and for the first time in months, actually feeling _good._

**Okay, maybe the beginning was a tad bit too dark and angsty, but I kind of liked it :) I always was curious what went through the minds of people who did that. Like my friend. They never really could explain why, and never really understood how it hurts for people who care for them. So. Review? The good, the bad, the Awesome!**

**-NK**

**P.S. I'm running out of ideas on how to name chapters, so… sorry for my lack of creativity. ._.**


	9. Frog, Ferret, Fake it

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot, and my plot only.**

**Thank you to Daughter Of Artemis (again) for following this and your reviews. I am relieved you're fine with it. **

**Thank you also to Rosanaa, I already wrote most of this chapter when you reviewed, but I tried to add a few details of what you suggested. I'd love to have a suggestion for the next chapter, if you don't mind. To fulfill a little bit of expectations :)**

**And thank you to the other hundreds of readers who, though haven't reviewed, but still went through the rest of this (unfinished) story. I appreciate it, and am delighted to know you're reading this. **

**On with the story!**

Harry felt elated throughout the whole night. And it was all because he got the flag. Alright, partly because he got the flag. Oh, fine, it had nothing to do with the flag. It had everything to do with a girl that seems too good to be true.

A girl that understands him. (He's nothing without his wand)

A girl that is brave. (She would make a fine Gryffindor)

A girl that is talented. (A sword!)

A girl that doesn't judge him by his name. (Probably because she never heard it before)

But, most of all, a girl that could piss off Malfoy. (And wasn't he pissed!)

A girl that also doesn't mind walking by him even though people stared and who laughed at his every single (lame) jokes. Forget elated, he was on cloud nine.

"…. To have to explain it three times!" He finished. Annabeth laughed again. She really seemed to think that he was humorous (Or was she laughing at his lack of? He hoped not.)

"That-"Annabeth managed to choke out in between giggles, "Was so funny! I mean, seriously?"

He grinned, relief flooding in him. "Yes, Hufflepuffs are generally thought dim, unfortunately."

"Oh, gosh, Harry," she said, tired of laughing, "I haven't laughed so much like this for a long time." Her voice was just above a whisper, but he heard it all the same despite the noise all around them with campers singing campfire songs around the bonfire. He thought there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Why?" he asked softly.

She glanced at him. Just for a second before she abruptly cleared her throat and said lightly, "Nothing, I'm just… stressed for school, that's all. And now summer's here! It's time for fun!" She stretched her arms above her head, and then turned to him, her earlier sad demeanor gone and now a happy smile graced her face.

Even so, he had already seen it. The wistfulness in her eyes, even for just that one second. For what or whom, he didn't know. So instead of pursuing it, he said, "Want to join them?" She smiled, relieved that he didn't push the subject. "Sure."

They headed towards one of the benches, and joined in laughing when one of the Stoll brothers managed to catch Clarisse off-guard, causing her to be now soaked with her punch.

Annabeth saw Hermione and Ron talking not far away from them, and though Ron looked halfway bored, Hermione seemed animated. She wondered if her speculation about her and Harry was wrong after all. She scowled at that, not liking the thought of her ever being wrong, even for just a petty thing. She was being pulled into a memory of perhaps the only time that Annabeth had been wrong, wrong about a boy with sandy hair from her childhood, until Harry placed his hand on hers. "Annabeth? Are you all right?"

She flushed at being caught reminiscing again. "I…"

Before she had the chance to reply, someone else was calling for her.

She looked to her side. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Chiron asked.

Mutely, she released Harry's grasp from her hand and followed Chiron, sad but not regretful of leaving the confused boy that reminded her too much of what she was missing.

Draco was furious. No, he was more than furious; he was boiling with anger, about to burst any second. If Crabbe or Goyle was here, he would've let his frustrations out on them, either screaming like the spoiled brat he is or just randomly turn one of them into a frog. Apparently, that was the highest level of animal transfiguration that he could do, and as soon as he mastered the ferret, there was no bloody way that he'd hold back from turning Granger, Potty and the weasel into them. Oh, the joy.

But that wasn't what he wanted the most right now. Instead of Potty, or Granger, or the weasel, that blonde muggle was the number one on his hit list/people to turn into ferrets.

How dare she humiliate him, a pureblood insulted by a muggle, imagine that! Maybe a frog would do, for now…

He paced around the room some more, rage blinding his senses.

It wasn't until she knocked did Draco notice that the blonde muggle was standing in his doorway. Huh, he should think of a new nickname, the blonde muggle is too long and bothersome. Forgetting his fury for a moment, he asked her, "What's your last name?"

"What?" she replied, apparently expecting him to unleash his wrath instead.

He didn't bother to hide his irritation and rolled his eyes. "Your last name. What is it?"

She frowned at this, but reluctantly replied, "Chase."

Draco mentally wrote down his list. People to change into ferrets, or frogs, should there be any need to do it so soon: 1.) Potty, 2.) Granger, 3.) the Weasel, and 4.) Chase. He then shrugged internally; _her name seems to fit with those three… I wonder…"What's the matter, Chase, cat got your tongue?"_

Outside, he nodded, accepting that to be her nickname. As soon as he had forgotten it, Draco remembered that he was supposed to be angry.

"You made a fool out of me, Chase," he started, growling, striding towards her surprised self.

Annabeth simply answered, "You don't need my help to do that."

His fury rose. "You-"

"And don't call me Chase. It's rude," her tone was scolding now, expression changing from unaffected to annoyance.

He stopped in front of her, lowering his head so that it was at the same level as hers, which was not much, she was relatively tall than most girls, but the top of her head still barely reached the bottom of his chin. "I'll call you whatever I want to, Chase," he sniffed, "A muggle's first name's not worth knowing."

"It's Annabeth," her tone was still annoyed, "and I am _not_ a muggle."

He raised his eyebrows at this. "Oh, really? So you're a mudblood, then?"

Annabeth shifted. She's read enough books to know what a mudblood is, and how cruel it actually meant. But, still… "I don't know."

He smirked at her. "I knew it. You're a mudblood, the dirtiest scum ever."

"I said I don't know! And I'm _not _dirty!" _She_ glared indignantly at him, fire burning behind her eyes. _Eyes just like mine,_ he realized. He staggered back a little._ How peculiar_. She was staring at him, and he was about to spout something like, "Can't keep your eyes off me already, huh, Chase?" until he realized _he _was the one who stared first. He cleared his throat, and turned around, trying to gain back his regal self. "What are you still doing here? I don't want my only place of solitude to be soiled by someone like you," he spat.

Annabeth huffed. "I didn't come here to hear your obnoxiousness, your royal highness," she crossed her arms, "Chiron wants to see you."

"That crazy horse? No thanks," he huffed back, starting towards his bed.

She followed him, ignoring his death glares. "Believe me, I don't want to be seen with you either, but I've got this." She showed him a cap, with what looks like a Y on it. Y for what? Yes? These strange muggles and their muggle clothing.

"No, I would not hide myself with a cap that carries your pathogens, thank you," he replied.

She rolled her eyes, and then put the cap on. She disappeared.

His eyes bulged. _Where in the bloody hell did she go?_ He turned around, about to walk to his bed again, muttering, "I must be imagining things… crazy horse, crazy mudblood…"

"I'm still here, you know."

He jumped. Turned. Nobody's there. He turned again.

"Draco. I'm here."

His eyes searched around wildly. That confirms it. His screws had gone loose. And then she appeared in front of him, a victory smile on her face, the cap held above her head, just removed. "Bloody hell," was all he said. She grinned and waved the cap around. "Invisibility cap," she said. First Potter's got an invisibility cloak, and now this mudblood's got an invisibility cap? What, were all invisibility items reserved for mudbloods only? Bugger!

He squinted at her. "Where did you get that?" he asked her accusingly.

She turned. "None of your business." Her grin was still plastered on her face.

"I demand-""Time to go." With that, she was invisible again. He snarled, "No way in hell," and turned back to walk to his bed, until he felt his sleeve being pulled. "Come on!" She was still there, pulling him towards the door.

"Let go!" he tried to hit her from the direction where she was pulling him, but his hands hit nothing. She pulled at him again. He swished at her again, and again, still nothing. "You filthy mudblood, I have better things to do!" he said exasperatedly as she continued on tugging, "Actually, I don't, but it's still better than coming with you! So _unhand _me!"

They were out of the cabin, now, and few campers were starting to stare at him for screaming by himself.

"Would you like it if I guided you there with a knife on your throat instead?" As soon as she asked this, Draco felt something undeniably sharp pressed onto his throat. He gulped. Bad move. The knife pressed more into his skin, probably leaving a scratch now. He felt liquid running down his throat.

He hissed, and tried to restrain himself from strangling the girl, invisible or not.

"I'll go, so remove it before I use a _Cruciatus_ on you instead," his voice was hoarse, so it kind of dampened the effect, but Annabeth had removed her knife. It was difficult, but she had read enough to understood what a _Cruciatus_ was, or at least, what it meant.

He practically heard her skipping as she said, "Come on then!"

"That git," he swore under his breath, whether it was towards Chase or the horse, he wasn't sure, but he was more than sure that both fit into the category. He walked on, his Malfoy air unmistakable to others, except for the invisible girl in front of him trying her hardest not to burst out laughing. She failed when he tripped on one of the Hephaestus cabin's inventions.

**I got that wizard joke from Google, of course. It's like this:**

**A blind wizard walks into a pub. He says to the barkeep, "Want to hear a Hufflepuff joke?" The bar goes completely silent. The barkeep says, "Sir, I am a Hufflepuff. I'm used to handling a rough crowd alone. I have my wand drawn. The wizard to your left is an Auror with his wand drawn. He too is a Hufflepuff. The witch on your right has her wand drawn. She is a dueling champion and also a Hufflepuff. Are you absolutely certain you want to tell that Hufflepuff joke?" The blind wizard says, "Gods, no! Not if I have to explain it three times!"**

**Although, I laughed at this one:**

"**Why did Crabbe and Goyle cross the road?"**

**They were following Malfoy!**

**Anyways, holidays are approaching soon, I'll try to update as soon as I can! Leave a review please, and tell me what I should approach, and what I should never do ever again.**

**-NK**


	10. Demigod, Halfblood, Mudblood

**Disclaimer: No, I don't have a billion (or zillion) dollars to make Harry Potter and Percy Jackson mine, no matter how many I try to save.**

**I got so caught up in reading so many (awesome) books that I forgot about this! Thankfully, I had set an alarm, just in case. So thanks to my alarm, and the supportive reviews by my favorite people( you know who you are), this chapter was born!**

**Oh, and I actually went to camp too earlier, do define 'kid'. I went to camp and I'm proud of it! Now, if only there was a Camp Half-Blood…**

Soon, Annabeth and the annoying jerk reached the blue house, and she didn't bother to help him when he fell. He had a tendency to overreact, saying that he broke his leg even though it was probably just sprained a little. Yes, it hurt, but it wasn't as if his life was in danger, something that she had encountered countless times.

She knocked the door and walked in, calling for Chiron.

Draco- or should she call him Malfoy now considering how rudely he called her last name?- who was muttering curses under his breath all the way, even taunting her a few times occasionally, stopped but his dislike was evident on his face.

"Ah, Annabeth, Draco, come here and join me," he answered at a corner of the room. He was standing, of course, never did she ever see him sitting down properly, his tail swishing.

Draco saw him sneaking a couple of lemon drops into his mouth. When he offered him some, asking, "Would you like some lemon drops?" and handed out the candy to him, he shook his head and was eerily reminded of Dumbledore. The centaur chuckled, again raising his unease, and admitted, "An old friend of mine offered me these when I last visited him, and I couldn't stop myself from eating them."

Annabeth cleared her throat, as if to remind Chiron what he actually was about to do, making Draco glare at her more. She glared at him back, but he quickly looked away. Confusion fluttered her features.

Chiron beckoned Draco closer, and he begrudgingly complied, although there was still a huge noticeable distance in between them. Annabeth stood far at the side, eyeing them warily.

"Draco," Chiron started, "I trust that you know the reason why you are here?"

"Because of the portkey," he replied blatantly.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but Chiron chuckled. "Close, but no." That horse was really starting to give Draco the creeps. "You were reminded that even though any forms of magic are allowed, using wands are not. Especially using it to threaten the health of another hero."

Draco scoffed at his choice of words. Potter, a hero? It's ironic, really, the crazy horse calling Potter a hero when he clearly doesn't have the guts to fight the Dark Lord, or even to throw himself in front of his so called 'beloved headmaster' when the Avada Kedavra was aimed at him. He smirked; Draco Malfoy, a hero, killed Harry Potter, another hero. That would make his day.

"What you did was an honorable thing, Draco, but that action doesn't exactly justify you as a hero, especially from your actions earlier," Chiron interrupted his inner monologue, answering to what he was thinking.

Honestly, Draco was wondering whether reincarnation was possible even when someone is still alive, as another creature.

Chiron chuckled again, "No, reincarnation is not possible, young man."

In his head, Draco was screaming at the crazy horse to stop imitating the wacky headmaster already or he would regret doing what he did, but he shrugged. "So what; I have a wild imagination." He grimaced at his pitiful attempt at being nonchalant.

However, the crazy horse wasn't paying attention to him anymore, but rather looking inquisitively at Chase, who looked deep in thought.

"All demigods are, Annabeth, so you don't need to worry, your blood's not dirty," he said, shocking Draco. She was deep in thought about that?

Annabeth looked at Chiron with pain in her eyes. "But why…" She snuck a glance at Draco, though he caught it.

"They were away from here for far too long, they didn't know any better."

Well, that was insulting. He didn't bother to ask where they were to Clarisse or anyone for that matter, his father had told him that were many worlds, and the wizarding world was just one of them. He just assumed that he was in one of them now and he didn't need to worry about hiding, he only needed to hide in the muggle world. Not that he would ever step foot in there. But then this world seemed different, as if they were saying that the wizarding world was derived from _here._

The crazy horse seemed to have read his mind again, as he suddenly said, "I remember the time four demigods from here set off into the world. Powerful children of Hecate, they were. Tired of fighting monsters, tired of going on quests. Tired of even pretending to be a mortal when monsters could easily find them." He had a faraway look in his eyes as he walked around the room. "That is, until they used their magic and built a place that was undetected by monsters, a place where they could live peacefully and teach their grandchildren how to hone their magic."

At this, Draco and even Annabeth's eyes widened.

"Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin," Chiron smiled fondly. "Rowena Ravenclaw was the smart one of the group, she was like you, Annabeth." All Annabeth could do was blink at this.

"Helga Hufflepuff was like Silena, always kind to help others, even when some should not be helped." Draco noticed both of them had a hint of sadness in Annabeth's eyes as he said this. He frowned. Why was she sad? Without realizing it, worry creased his features.

"Salazar Slytherin was a mischievous kid back then, always irking Rowena with his cunningness, although secretly, he would worry for her and the others…" Chiron trailed off, not missing that Draco hasn't yet removed his view from Annabeth, "…He was like you, Draco."

Draco snapped back to attention. He scrunched his nose. What was he doing, staring at some mudblood, it's not as if he should care for her sorrow. In fact, he should be glad about it!

It took him a moment for the crazy horse's words to sink in.

Before he could ask, Chiron continued. "Godric Gryffindor led them all. He was brave and determined, although sometimes reckless." He chuckled, and rested his gaze on Annabeth. "He was just like Percy."

The sadness in Annabeth's eyes were now gone, and instead looked empty, devoid of any emotions.

Draco had never heard of this Percy, yet he had an urge to beat the crap out of him. Or perhaps just a little animal transfiguration. Then he could easily stomp on him instead. After that, he could douse him in kerosene, set a match on him, watch him burn, then collect his ashes to…. Whoa. What was he thinking? He stopped his train of thoughts before he starts to plan somebody's murder.

"So these demigods made a world of their own?" Annabeth piped up.

Chiron nodded. "They're almost as old as this camp; Godric, Salazar, Helga and Rowena were four of the first few campers here. All of those in the wizarding world are half-bloods."

"Are you saying that there are no purebloods?" Draco said heatedly.

"How can there be when all of you are demigods?" Chiron replied calmly. "You are the same as Annabeth and all your friends that were with you, Harry, Ronald and Hermi-" "Don't you dare!" Draco growled, minimizing the space in between him and the centaur, "Don't you dare say that I am the same as that filthy mudblood! She's dirty and disgusting, and has no right to even be he-"

He was cut off as Annabeth slapped him, tears that were threatening to fall rimming her eyes, but there was a look of contempt in them.

Draco held his jaw, anger boiling inside him. "What the hell is your problem? I wasn't talking about you!" he snarled, glaring at her with the same disdain in her eyes.

"Then consider yourself lucky," she said bitterly before walking away.

**Ah, I'm proud of that last one. Don't know why. But anyways, a review would mean a lot, you guys! *sigh* More than fifty people who read until the latest chapter, but only few reviews… (hint hint)**

**Happy November, guys! :D**

**-NK**


	11. Percy, MilitaryBaby, Green Chimney

**Disclaimer: Nope, not one single thing of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson is mine, except for maybe my Harry Potter bubble blower.**

**No, your eyes are not deceiving you… this really is another chapter after just a few days! I was so happy for the (though admittedly not that many, but still so awesome) reviews, that this came up! Although, I was befuddled with the oh-so-many-and-fantastic suggestions. But still, I made a list out of it and tried my best to fit it all in. (But not at once!)**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and added this story to their alerts! It made me so happy :') I held back from **_**Daughter of Artemis**_**, to **_**girl on fire**_**, to **_**Slayer of Heroes**_**, to **_**Lexia Daughter of Athena**_**, to **_**Rosanaa**_**, until **_**Erin Hunters 4 Ever**_**, I couldn't take it and wrote this.**

**Enjoy!**

Annabeth felt like the slap wasn't enough as she stormed out of the blue house. She wanted to scream at the jerk some more. She wanted to run in Harry's comfortable arms and cry like the little girl that she hasn't been in a very long time. She also wanted scream at Harry for being too nice and accepting her crying in his arms, again reminding her of how alike he was to Percy and it just felt _wrong._

She screamed in frustration, balling her fists, covering her tears-streaked face. Gods, what she would give to be carefree right now.

Feeling tired all of a sudden, she sat down at the porch, rocking back and forth wallowing in self-pity, something that she's recently doing more frequently. And that's how Piper and Leo found her minutes later.

Piper immediately rushed to her newest friend's side, asking her what's wrong. Leo, on the other hand, immediately fiddled more with the trinkets that he keeps in his pockets, but had a worried expression. Annabeth by then has long stopped crying, but still looked "like shit", as Leo had put it, which earned him a glare and a smack in the back from Piper.

"I'm fine," she lied, and before Piper could object, she said, "I'm just worried about Percy." That was true, at least, and the creases on Piper's forehead reduced.

"He'll remember you," Piper reassured her, placing a hand on Annabeth's arm.

Annabeth smiled gratefully. She doubted that, considering even Jason didn't exactly remember about a girl back from his camp, but she appreciated her optimism. Her own optimism level was running low. "So why are you guys here?" she asked them. After all, most of the campers were at the bonfire.

"Chiron wanted to talk to us. I think it's about the Argo II. We're as ready as we can be to leave as soon as we can," Piper said.

Annabeth was going to ask where Jason was, until Leo said, "There's Jason."

She leaned to her left so she could see past him, and just like he said, there's Jason. But he's not the only one coming.

"Why did you bring them here?" she asked Jason when he was close enough, gesturing to Harry and Ron, with Hermione wedged in between them, both her arms hooked with Ron's and Harry's. This confused her more. But wasn't Hermione and Ron… enough of that. _Now's not the time_, she scolded herself.

Hermione frowned, thinking they weren't wanted, but Jason just shrugged and said, "Chiron asked me to bring them along too." Annabeth furrowed her brows. "What could be the reason that Chiron wants to see all of us right now?" she wondered, "Plus, it's not only us here, but right now Chiron's talking to-"

The door suddenly opened, and Annabeth jumped when a now all-too-familiar and irritating voice stated, "The crazy horse tells you lot to come in." Without another word, he walked back into the house.

Piper turned to her, and both of them nodded. Annabeth stood up and walked inside again, followed by Piper, Leo, Jason, Harry, Ron, and hesitantly, Hermione. They formed a semi-circle as they faced Chiron, the jerk was standing far off at the corner, trying and failing to look as if he wasn't avoiding her gaze. Annabeth puffed, not attempting even the slightest to hide her hatred. True, hate was a strong word, but surely that's what it must be when she couldn't help but feel a slight repulsion just because of being in the same room as him.

"Chiron?" Jason spoke up, his voice uncertain when for a few minutes, Chiron just looked at each and every one of them.

Chiron popped another lemon drop into his mouth, and smiled. "I believe you have told me that the Argo II is as good as new and you're ready to go?"

Jason nodded, and Leo said, "We're ready to head off tomorrow morning. We've packed all supplies, and we already had a test-drive yesterday. We're more than ready." He grinned excitedly. Annabeth smiled lightly. Typical Leo, excited already before the quest had even started.

Chiron smiled, and asked, "Who will be going with you?"

"All of our most reliable and trustworthy campers," Jason said, and paused, "Well, not that I'm really sure of, but Annabeth suggested them, and I trust her judgment." He nodded at her, and Annabeth nodded back, happy that Jason trusted her. He was the Roman here, yet he trusted her and the other Greeks so easily.

"Namely the Stoll brothers, Clarisse, and of course Leo, Piper and Annabeth. Oh, and me too," he grinned embarrassedly.

"Are there enough rooms for the few days' journey?"

Jason nodded, "Just enough. In fact, there's another spare room. There're seven of us, so two people per room."

"And _I _get to have the solo one!" Leo beamed triumphantly. Jason looked at him irritatingly. "Leo, we've gone through this," he explained, "One room for the Stoll brothers, another for Annabeth and Piper, third one's for you and me, and the fourth's for Clarisse." Leo pouted at him stubbornly. "How come _she _gets to have her on room? Besides, I could always just sleep in another room, you pointed it out yourself, there's a spare." Jason sighed, as if they had this conversation multiple times. Maybe they had. Correction: Most likely they had. This is Leo we're talking about.

"And what good would it bring if you had the king bed?" Jason asked, exasperated.

"A good night's sleep," Leo smiled immaturely.

Jason rolled his eyes. "We're not discussing this anymore."

"Jason!"

The others observed amusedly of his juvenile behavior, and even Chiron chuckled. "Does Percy know that you're coming?" Jason whacked his own head. "I know there was something that I was forgetting," he grimaced. "Hey, there _is_ this thing that I'd invented-" "Leo, we admit it's a great invention, but there's no guarantee that it would reach him." Leo sighed in defeat.

Annabeth bit her lip, then hesitantly said, "We could try Iris-messaging him."

Piper looked worriedly at her. "You've tried so many times already and failed-"

"I know, but if Percy can contact Tyson from his dream, then why can't we Iris-message him instead?" Annabeth cut her off. She turned to Chiron. "Please?" Chiron scrutinized her for a few seconds before he nodded.

It was then that Hermione's patience wore thin. Out of habit, she raised her hand, and as soon as Chiron acknowledged her, she asked, "Why are we here?" The longer the conversation drew on, the more she felt left out. They hadn't even noticed that she, Ron and Harry had taken a few steps back, sensing that they weren't exactly needed.

Annabeth was annoyed that she was interrupted, but Chiron smiled good-naturedly. "Patience, Hermione. Soon, you will know."

Hermione stayed quiet, and Annabeth approached the fountain reserved for Iris messages. She threw in a golden drachma offered by Chiron, and while clasping her hands with her eyes closed, said, "O Iris, goddess of rainbows, please show me Perseus Jackson." Honestly, she did half-expect that Iris would say again that no, she can't show her Percy, and no, she can't tell her why, or worse, that Iris would not respond at all, which has happened a lot recently.

However, today, Iris seemed to have heard her, and perhaps pitied her, because no later than a few seconds, Percy's image was shown. Annabeth gasped, as did Piper, Jason and Leo.

He was sitting around a picnic table near a store that has an old rusted petrol pump at the front, talking with a guy that has black hair that was cut like a military's, and a stoutly-built frame. Annabeth observed that he actually had a baby-cheeked face. Next to him, in between him and Percy was an African-American girl with long, curly cinnamon brown hair. It looks like she was asleep, judging by the way she was burying her head in her arms and the few sounds that she made.

Annabeth's heart twanged as she took in his unruly black hair, his familiar build and his ocean eyes.

"Percy," she half-whispered, but he didn't seem to have heard her.

He was still deep in conversation with the guy.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" the baby-faced military guy said.

"About what?" Percy looked across the table at him.

"About…being proud that we're related." Annabeth raised her brows. Another brother?

Percy tapped his granola bar on the table. "Well, let's see. You single-handedly took out three basilisks while I was sipping green tea and wheat germ," he stated, earning gasps and shock from Ron, Hermione and Harry. Annabeth scowled. She had no doubt that this was all Hera's doing. Percy kept on talking.

"You held off an army of Laistrygonians so that our plane could take off in Vancouver. You saved my life by shooting that Gryphon. And you gave up the last charge on your magic spear to help some defenseless mortals. You are, hands down, the nicest child of the war god that I'd ever met… and maybe the _only _nice one. So what do you think?"

Annabeth's heart sank when he said they took off from Vancouver; that was so far away. Laistrygonians? Gryphon? And the child of Ares? It was as if Hera was planning for Percy's death, along with the funeral.

"It's just…I was supposed to be in charge of this quest, the centurion, and all. I feel like you guys have had to carry me," said the baby of the military.

"Not true."

"I'm supposed to have these powers I haven't figured out how to use," he said bitterly, "Now I don't have a spear, and I'm almost out of arrows. And… I'm scared." _Who wouldn't be?_ Annabeth thought. In spite of her brave façade, she was just as scared as everyone was when doing a quest. And when the guy you love was offered immortality, well. It felt like her life was on the verge of being ripped away, and you can't act brave when that happens.

"I'd be worried if you weren't scared. We're all scared," Percy admitted.

Just like that, Annabeth was reassured again. Percy was still like himself. If he hadn't changed… then maybe he remembers. Her spirit lifted, but before she could check any signs that he remembered, the iris-message started going fuzzy.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, please don't-!" She pleaded, but a second later, it faded. Her shoulders slumped.

"This is very bad," Chiron murmured, and everyone turned their attention to him. "The iris-message worked, but he couldn't hear us. Either he's in the middle of something very important, or something is purposely blocking us. Plus, he's been attacked more than I had imagined…"

"So what do we do?" Jason finally asked.

Chiron took in a breath. "I think it would be best that you leave tomorrow, at dawn. Since iris-messages don't work, then I hope that one of you try to contact him in your dreams," he said, looking at Annabeth. "However, in case it doesn't work…" He paused, as if contemplating, but Annabeth knew him well enough that his mind was set. "All four of you should also join," he said, pointing to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco.

There was a brief moment of silence.

Ron was the first to speak up. Or shout out, in his case. "WHAT?"

"I don't fully understand, but I don't think it's a good idea…" That was Hermione.

"We don't exactly know what's going on, but…" That was Harry.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Ten galleons to whoever had guessed who said it.

Annabeth, Piper, Jason and Leo just stared at him. Yes, they believed that there must be a reason why Chiron decided this. But it was also unusual. Not to mention more risky.

"Chiron-" Annabeth started, but he held his hand up to stop her.

"If you cannot contact Percy, and you suddenly invade the Romans, what do you think they would do?" he asked.

"They'd attack," Jason answered, "But what do they have to do with this?"

"A form of protection. They _are _the children of Hecate, after all."

Annabeth and the others slowly agreed, and after checking with Harry, the other two agreed too.

"I won't do it." She wasn't surprised to hear the snarl coming from the quietest part of the room that night. Harry glared at him. "You're not in the position to decline, Malfoy. He saved your life, remember?" he hissed at the furious blonde. "And I save Dumbledore's. My debt's been paid, so you can sod off, Potter," he retorted. None of them saw the logic in this except for him and Chiron. "That doesn't-" Harry started, but Chiron held up his hand again.

"It's all right, Harry. If Draco doesn't want to join it, then he doesn't have to."

Before any of them, had the chance to argue some more, the chimney at the back of the room burst with green flames.

**This chapter was so much work, and I admit it's not my best. But it's vital for the plot, you see. And forgive me for that sudden cut-off. I wanted to continue, really, but then it'd be too long. I'll see if I could upload tomorrow.**

**That is, if you want to read it… (wink wink) More excitement next chapter! (Yes, I had just admitted that this was a tad bit too boring.)**

**You know what I want…**

**-NK**


	12. Weaselette, the blood traitor

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, just my plot.**

**I know any amount of excuses and begging does not make up for my long time taken to update. But still, I'm sorry. It's been busy lately, I had a performance, which equals to hours of practice, then there's the family dinner, and then the MWord on my laptop won't work so I have to find another laptop instead to work with… plus I had a case of writer's block…so here it is!**

**Numerous thanks to my loyal readers, be it new or old. This is for you!**

A few seconds later, a familiar weaselette stepped out from the fireplace. Draco scrunched up his nose in response, wasn't _one_ Weasley enough for him to deal with? The Golden Trio crowded around her, all of them squealing relatively the same things: "Ginny! We're so glad to see you!" "What are you doing here?" "Did you bring me some food?"

He scowled, repulsed and annoyed at the same time. What happened to trying to convince him to join their stupid quest?

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Chase was also watching them wearily, so was the guy beside her. Draco's features hardened when he saw him lean over to whisper something in her ear, causing her to grin. He rolled his eyes. He couldn't care less about that mudblood, if she wanted soil herself some more with that other mudblood, then why should he care?

Unconsciously, he brought his hand up to his left cheek. The pain from the slap was still clear in his mind, and so was the image of the unstable girl who had caused it. Of course he was furious when she did it- who wouldn't be? But when she walked she walked away bitterly, with tears rimming her eyes, he felt another slap. That one was on his chest. He wasn't familiar with the feeling, but he refused to think it was guilt. He reasoned that it was probably just shock to have a bruise on his ego for letting her get away with it. Next time, he vowed, she would see it was a mistake to mess with a Malfoy.

The Gryffindors were halfway done with their reunion, with Ginny whispering, "I'd never thought you'd be here… but I'm so glad you're all okay." He noted disgustedly that her eyes were on Potter as she said this. Being a disgrace to the purebloods was one thing, but ending the line with a half-blood? It's preposterous!

"How is Albus doing?" the crazy horse asked.

"He's fine, and he's still recovering, but doing better. He wanted to be here himself, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow him, so he sent me instead," the weaselette answered.

And the crazy old coot was at it again, being the psychic wizard who knows everything. _Why am I not surprised,_ Draco mused.

"That's good to hear. Why are you here, Ginny?"

The weaselette raised her eyebrows when she heard her name being mentioned, but replied, "To bring Harry, Hermione and Ron back to Hogwarts, of course."

Draco cleared his throat, and the weaselette looked surprised, as if she didn't notice him there. It hurt his ego to ask for someone, a _bloody Gryffindor,_ no less, to bring him away from this place, but he was getting desperate and desperate situations calls for desperate measures. "You wouldn't mind if the ferret stays here, do you?" she asked the crazy horse.

Draco glared at her, and was satisfied to see her cowering a little.

"Ginny, I know you mean well, but is that really what Albus has asked of you?" the crazy horse looked at her inquisitively.

The weaselette suddenly found her shoes to be interesting and remained silent.

"Ginny?" Potter whispered, taking a step towards her.

A sob tore through her, and in seconds she was blubbering in hysterics. "He- he said that all of you would be here, a-and he asked me to help you w-when the time comes. He- he t-told me to s-stay until- until everything here is done, and until… until he won't be there to protect Hogwarts anymore."

Granger was holding the girl in her arms, patting her back, calming her down, even though silent tears were running down her face. Weasel was at the side, looking puzzled and torn at the same time. Potter's features were etched in pain.

_Why are all Gryffindors so dramatic?_ Draco wondered. Sure, he was a little taken aback by what she said, but no need to get all emotional. So the old bat finally accepted his inevitable death. Admittedly, he probably had accepted it the moment Draco's wand was aimed at him and he didn't even resist, but the fact that his death was only delayed… he took it quite well, and Draco had to respect him for that, even though it was stupid.

Unconsciously, his gaze wandered over to Chase again, and this time, she caught him staring. He found himself still unnerved by her stormy gray eyes that were identical as his, especially now that he could see pity and acceptance in them, exactly what he felt at that moment. It was the first time that he looked away first instead of her in their staring matches.

"Chiron… the quest?" the guy who stole Chase's attention spoke up, interrupting the tense silence.

"I suppose it can't be helped. All of you will leave tomorrow morning, including Clarisse, Connor and Travis. Oh, and Ginny here," the crazy horse said without a second thought.

There were no protests from the she-weasel as she fell asleep, dried out from all the crying she did. There were, however, protests from everyone in the room excepting the crazy horse and him, mostly because it would be pointless to say anything when everybody's screaming at that time.

"She doesn't even know about this-" Granger reasoned.

"Isn't this too dangerous? What if she gets hurt-" Potter, obviously.

"What if there's not enough food?" Trust the weasel to make the availability of food as the major crisis.

"It's not that she's not wanted, but-" a girl with braided brown hair and green eyes, who was so attractive that Draco himself wondered how he had missed her, said.

"There's not enough rooms-" a guy that looks suspiciously like an elf shrilled.

"I don't see a problem, but she doesn't know anything-" Draco glared at the bloke beside Chase earlier. Doesn't know anything? She's a witch, and although she's a blood traitor, she sure as hell knows much more than a mudblood! Filthy, little git that will rot in hell once he's through with-

"I don't trust them."

Draco snapped his head to search for the one that said it, but he knew the owner of the voice before his stormy gray eyes settled on her now dark, cloudy gray ones.

Every person in the room stopped talking at once. "I knew it," Granger hissed. "I knew there was a reason why I didn't exactly like you while you had Harry wrapped around your pretty little pinky finger-"

"Hermione, shut it," the weasel aid almost tiredly.

"What, Ron, you too?" Draco noted there was a hint of hurt in her angered tone. Oh, this was getting delicious.

"Think about it, 'Mione, would you trust them if they appeared out of nowhere at Hogwarts? And I don't think the presence of the ferret is helping us to gain their trust." The nerve of that bloody weasel, when he gets his hand on him… _Well_, Draco vowed, _it won't be pretty_.

Granger stared at him, as if surprised that he actually thought about it, but then nodded, not quite looking at Chase when she muttered her, "Sorry." Chase shrugged it off, like her accusations and apology didn't matter, and said, "Contrary to your belief, I do believe you, and Harry, and Ron. But I don't know her," she gestured to the weaselette, and glared at him, "And I don't trust him."

"All of us don't, so it's ok, you can hurt him," the weasel offered. Draco's rage was barely contained, but he continued, "And Ginny's my sister, you can trust her."

_Gryffindors and their bloody trusts_, Draco thought repulsively. It was no wonder that the Dark Lord hadn't been stopped, because the so-called 'most powerful wizard in the world' Dumbledore trusted him, even when it was clear his intentions weren't good when he was still Tom Riddle.

Chase nodded at the weaselette, but still turned and glared at him. He glared right back, unflinching. Then she smirked, causing him to blink. "Bugger," he cursed under his breath as she turned to the crazy horse, and said, "I propose that he sleeps in Travis and Connor's room."

The crazy horse let out an amused chuckle, and even the git, the elf, and the pretty girl smiled. That could only mean one thing: It wasn't good.

"No," he objected before the horse had a chance to say anything. "And didn't you hear me? I'm not going to your pathetic little quest, no matter-"

"It is _not _pathetic-" Chase cut him off.

He scoffed. "It must be if you need _our _help."

Potter cocked his brow, his face a mixture of disgust and hilarity. "_Our,_Malfoy? Who is this_ our _because I'm sure that you wouldn't include your pure-blooded self with us."

Draco cursed himself for his slip, and said, "I said _my_, Potter, not _our_. You must be deluded if you think I would ever side myself with you filthy mudbloods and blood traitors."

At this, Granger barked a humorless laugh.

"Blood traitors? What about you, Malfoy? Aren't you a blood traitor too since not only did you fail to kill Dumbledore, but you also saved him? You betrayed your father, your family, and Voldemort, the one you so highly ship but is also a mudblood himself. If I were you, I'd be ashamed, and not to mention feel foolish."

"Don't you fucking dare talk about my father! Or my family, for any of that matter!" he shouted, "Maybe I should have killed that old bat! Maybe I should've killed him there right on the spot, push him off the tower, and then kill you!"

"Fine then! Go ahead, kill me now! Then maybe Harry will kill you, and he and Ron will finally live peacefully without you and finish off Voldemort!"

"Fine! _Avada-" _

"Enough!" Annabeth pushed herself in between the two, holding them both away at arm's length. "Nobody's killing anybody in here! You should know better, Hermione, that killing won't solve anything." She turned to look at him.

He had expected a glare, a telling off, anything in that category, but instead, her eyes softened, and although she didn't smile or offer any other forms of acceptance, he still felt befuddled. "You did the right thing," she said softly. "Nobody's blaming you."

For once, he believed her.

**How was it? Suspenseful? Confusing? Downright idiotic? **

**On the bright side, once I start writing, I won't stop. **

**Especially when reviews start rolling in… :)**

**-NK**

**P.S. DaughterOfArtemis- Yes, I did notice that you had logged in. Thanks for that!**


	13. Nightmares and Curses

**I was right, wasn't I? Granted, it took, what, two days? But an empty inbox today is slightly depressing... But anyways, here it is, the next chapter! Read on, my lovelies! (What the-?)**

**Disclaimer: You wouldn't believe me if I said I was J.K. Rowling and my best bud's Rick Riordan, would you...?**

Everything that happened after that was a blur to her. Surprise was an understatement of what she felt when Draco held her gaze, and said, "I'll go." It managed to make her heart skip a beat for a second, just a second, no longer, as he managed to ruin the moment by sneering at Harry, "It's not like Potty and Weasel bee over there will be of much use, anyways."

Just like that, her trance was broken, and she hurried back to her cabin after Chiron asked Hermione and Ron to carry Ginny back to their cabin, reminding everyone that the Argo II will leave at the crack of dawn.

Although Chiron had emphasized the very much needed sleep so that they would feel fresh in the morning, Annabeth couldn't crack a wink. She just laid there on her bed, the blanket covering every part of her but her thoughts. For the first time since Percy's disappearance, she was confused. Even confused was an understatement. The moment Ginny appeared and Harry, Ron and Hermione crowded around her, Annabeth felt a slight hatred towards the innocent redheaded girl.

It wasn't logical, because Annabeth had never felt that much hatred to someone she have just met, no less someone that was a friend of Harry's.

But that was the thing.

That girl didn't seem like just a friend of Harry's.

She could see it in Harry's eyes when he saw her and said it could be dangerous, and even in Ginny's eyes when she said she was glad that they were all safe.

_Liar,_ was what came to Annabeth's mind when she said it,_ you're glad that only Harry's safe, you couldn't care less about Hermione or your brother._ It was a mean thought, and again, she was confused where it came from, and why.

The fact that she felt the same hatred towards Hermione when she lashed out on Draco didn't help either.

What Hermione said about him was most likely true, given that Draco didn't exactly deny it, but there was no need for her to say it in front of everybody with so much venom in her voice. Everybody makes mistakes, some worse than the others, but it doesn't mean that they are all bad. Like how she made a mistake of believing Luke.

Annabeth sighed and shifted, turning to the other side of her bed._ Percy was right about him all along._

She remembered the last conversation they had together the night before he went missing.

"_You couldn't have changed it, you know," he said, swinging his legs as he sat beside me on the dock. I looked up at him, still fiddling my camp necklace._

"_I know," I said finally._

"_Even if you stopped him in the beginning, the Fates would have found a way to include him in the end," he continued._

"_Percy…" I said, furrowing my eyebrows._

"_He still would've joined Kronos, he still would've controlled the Princess Andromeda, he still would've aided Atlas."_

"_Percy…" I wasn't exactly sure where he was going with this. I knew what had happened. He didn't need to remind me of Luke's betrayal._

"_He still would've let Kronos possess him, he still would've tricked you to carry the sky on your shoulders, and he still would've betrayed you."_

"_Percy!" _

_Tears were falling freely from my eyes now. I didn't need to remember all this, I get that Luke wasn't exactly running in line to be the best childhood friend, but Percy didn't need to rub it all in my face. Through my blurry vision, I saw his face softening. "Annabeth…" I pulled away as he reached for my hand but he still managed to grab it. I looked away from him. Maybe this was why he brought it up. Because I still felt like this even after everything he did to me._

"_When you prayed for the gods to curse him… you didn't mean it, did you?"_

_I stared at him for a minute, my memory blank. But eventually, I remembered the time when we were twelve, after I found out and 'accepted' it. "May the gods curse him," I had said._

"_Of course I didn't mean it," I said weakly, my voice hoarse. "What's your point, Percy?"_

"_My point is, no matter what you do, in the end he would still care for you and do what was right. Don't beat yourself up over it. Luke was just a good guy who did some mistakes." I looked into his eyes then, fully understanding why I fell for him in the first place. _

_In my wrecked state, I managed a shaky smile. "Thank you."_

_He kissed my temple, and put his arm around me. He looked away as he said it, the words that still made him nervous and make the butterflies in my stomach to flutter wildly, "I love you."_

The next thing she knew, she was asleep.

"So, what are you carrying in that bag?" Piper asked her.

Annabeth shrugged. "The usual. My cap, my knife. Extra clothing. A toothbrush." She didn't bother to tell her that she brought her best casual clothes. Knowing Piper, she would probably look into it too much and gush how the effort she's putting into her clothes equals to her true love for Percy. Okay, that was over the top and hopefully won't happen, but she still is a daughter of Aphrodite.

"What's with your get-up, anyway?" she asked Piper, donned in a sleeveless dress, her hair braided to her side with golden ribbon. There was a gold band on each of her arm, and her neck was adorned with amber jewelry. In fact, Annabeth was sure that it was the same outfit she had on when Aphrodite claimed her.

Piper rolled her eyes. "You know how the children of Aphrodite can be," she sighed, "They were convinced that this time my 'beauty' will be marred for sure with all the dangerous activities that have been happening to me."

Annabeth laughed. "Maybe… I hardly call it 'activities', though."

"Yeah, more like a suicide mission."

They finally stopped walking as they saw the campers crowding the ship. Jason, Leo, Travis, Connor, Clarisse, and four of the newcomers had already arrived. Annabeth suppressed a scowl as she walked over to Jason. "Where's Draco?" she asked him, who was attempting to pry himself away from a young camper that was clinging on to him.

Jason blinked and said, "That's the blonde dude, right?"

She nodded.

"Ron said he won't leave his bed, and said something along the lines of, 'Merlin be damned if I'm going to wake up at this ungodly hour.'"

She sighed, but thought that it was to be expected. His willingness to go yesterday after all that fighting seemed too good to be true. She handed Piper her bag and told her she'd be back in five minutes.

It was early, but all campers were already awake, excited to send them off. All campers except one, she corrected.

As she had expected, only one bed was occupied in the Hecate cabin. It was also the only bed that had green quilt, green covers and also twice its size. Second thought, it was more like a king-sized bed. She noticed the bed was also at least two meters away from the surrounding beds. _That large space in between is so unnecessary_, she thought with annoyance.

She walked over to the foot of the bed, contemplating to let him sleep.

That way, she could at least have a stress-free environment before she reunites with Percy. She smiled at the thought. In less than seventy-two hours the minimum, if not so many monsters attack them, she would reunite with Percy.

"…kill you."

Slightly incoherent mumbles distracted Annabeth from the different thoughts of how their reunion would be.

She frowned, and walked over closer to the head of the bed. She could see a platinum-blonde head resting on the green pillows, but his face was far from rested. Even when Percy had dreams, he didn't look this bad.

Draco's face was paler than usual, a thin sheen of sweat covering his creased forehead. His mouth was set in a straight line, and his breathing was erratic. His eyelids keep fluttering, and Annabeth knew he wasn't having a pleasant dream. His nightmare must be that bad if he's talking in his sleep. "…you can't."

Annabeth lowered her head, trying to catch his words.

"...haven't got any options."

Annabeth paused. It seemed like an invasion of his privacy, even if he was asleep. But he _was_ having a nightmare. Maybe she should wake him up…

"…kill me! He'll kill my whole family!"

He was starting to thrash in his sleep. Annabeth's doubts flew out of the window, and she shook him, repeatedly saying, "Draco, wake up! It's just a dream, wake up!"

"No, you can't!" he said in an agonized tone.

"Draco!" she shook him harder, until his eyes finally snapped open. He sat up.

Annabeth stepped back, and for a minute, they just stared at each other, breathing heavily. Draco, from the nightmare, and her, from the effort of trying to wake him. He looked lost, as if the dream had really absorbed him and he didn't know where he was anymore. After assessing his surroundings, he finally gripped his bearings. His eyes, which just a second ago illustrated fear, now hardened and showed contempt.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"I had to wake you up, the ship's about to leave," she replied, trying not to sound concerned, "And I saw that you had a nightmare, so-"

"Get out."

"Excuse me? The ship's leaving, so-"

He sneered. "I need to put on some clothes, don't I?"

Annabeth then realized that his torso was bare. But since he had thrashed in his sleep, his blankets left him uncovered. She also realized he was only wearing green boxers.

She covered her face, looking away with cheeks burning. "You let your cabin-mates see you dressed like _that?_" she tried, and failed, to sound incredulous. In fact, she was sure that she squeaked the words out. She heard him scoff, and said, "Of course not. They were all asleep when I went to bed."

Oh. Right, of course.

"Do you mind?" he said, the irritation clear in his voice.

"What?" she managed to glare at him. _Don't look at his chest, don't look at his chest, don't look- shit, that's one solid chest._ Annabeth mentally slapped herself. What was wrong with her? She had seen guys shirtless countless times, Percy, Grover, Travis, Connor, Luke, Leo, even, all of them well-built. But why did _Draco's_ uncovered torso bother her so much?

Draco apparently didn't miss her checking him out, even if it was for a second. He smirked.

"I'd be glad to sit here for your display all day, although you're a mudblood, I'll make an exception. However, you _did_ point out that the ship is leaving, and I need to get dressed, but you're blocking my way."

_Shit. He's right. Shit, why am I cursing so much? Shit, shit..._ Annabeth cursed in her mind again.

"Make sure you'll be there in five," she muttered as she walked out of the cabin. Something was seriously wrong with her today.

**Whippee, some improvement! I am so happy by your reviews :')**

**More action in next chapter! (Not exactly action, but… action, you know?)**

**Do leave a review! (The *coughs* people *coughs* who favorited! *coughs*coughs*)**

**-NK**


	14. Feathers and Felons

**Sorry for the one-day delay :D Somebody got married~ You know, when I was a junior, and some 'populars' tried to bring me down, I ignored them. I was a 'nerd', you see, and they don't like nerds to be somehow well-known. Now that I'm a senior, they respect me. (Not that I'm not a nerd anymore... I'm just a sociable nerd.)**  
><strong>Point is, you can't make everybody happy. *shrugs* I'm just doing what I like *peace out*<strong>  
><strong>Disclaimer: I'm a walker that eats awesome authors' brains.<strong>

"So, are we all here?" Jason said, taking command once he saw Draco appear, wearing a black sweater and slacks, not to mention a scowl, even though it must be seventy degrees outside. Clarisse snickered upon his arrival, "Did you have enough beauty sleep, Princess?"

Draco's left eye twitched. He wanted nothing better than to glare at her and ask her to piss off, but she was a girl, and he had his principles. And one of his principles was to never treat a girl badly unless she was Granger. Low, but at least he had them. So instead of doing something that would definitely result in her respecting him, fear him even, he gave her his killer smile, guaranteed to make any girl swoon. Again, any girl except for Granger. And Chase, perhaps.

"Not really, I spent most of it thinking of you," he answered smoothly. But instead of the usual signs that shows a girl was affected, i.e. tinge of blush across cheeks, widening of eyes, quickening of breath, Clarisse merely snorted and turned her attention away from him.

Draco was flabbergasted. He shook his head, unbelieving. What was happening to him? Was he losing his touch? He tried again.

He inched closer to her, and casually placed his arm around her shoulders. He lowered his lips to near her ear. He felt her still, and he suppressed a smirk. _Score._ "So I heard that there're only five rooms in that pathetic excuse of a ship. I suppose... that we have to share one?" At his last sentence, she shuddered. He smirked. _The Slytherin Prince is back!_ He leaned closer, waiting for a sigh of acceptance, but then she suddenly pried away from him. What the-?

Clarisse's face was a mask of disgust. "No, thanks," she rejected him scathingly, and put a large amount of distance in between them. He gaped at her. What, was every girl at this place immune to him?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chase conversing with the pretty girl he noticed last night. She looked young, two years younger than him, maybe. He strutted his way to them.

"Hello there, I don't believe we've met officially," he said, putting on a dazzling smile for the girl in front of him. He made sure that he blocked Chase and obstructed her view. The fact that she woke him up in the middle of his nightmare- one that has plagued him for days and left him screaming awake, making him thankful that he had placed a silence charm before he went to sleep- it was degrading. Him, a Malfoy, discovered at his most vulnerable state by Chase, a mudblood.

He cursed himself for forgetting to cast the silence charm the night before. And to think it was because he was up for hours mulling over her, without any conscious reason. It's not that he was embarrassed- more like it was disrespectful for her to barge in his personal space like that. That must be the reason why. Yes, she didn't deserve to be in his presence. However, he has to mind his manners in front of this pretty girl. It seems like Chase would be joining Granger for girls he could treat badly.

"The name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. And you are?" He smiled seductively, offering his hand.

She placed hers in his, smiling warmly. He bowed and kissed her hand. "Piper Mc-" she paused, as if contemplating, then decided-he didn't know what, and said, "Piper McLean. Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine," he said, gazing intently at her blue eyes. Blue? He could've sworn last night it was green...

"Is Piper here?" he faintly heard- what was his name Mason? Tyson?- call for her.

She snatched her hand away, and said, "I'm here, Jason." Jason. Right, that's it. Wait. Did she just pulled away from his grasp? _Him_, Draco Malfoy? Blimey, he really was losing his touch. Deciding that it was pointless to continue his futile attempts at making a girl who's younger than him by two years- give or take a year-he walked away, blood boiling, and for the first time in his life, ashamed.  
>...<p>

Annabeth stifled her laugh as she watched Draco storming away. She could practically see through him, desperate for a girl to fall over his feet. She guessed that he really was desperate and unused to this, because she saw him make his way to Hermione, who, when Draco tried to be what she guessed was alluring, punched him on his nose.

She couldn't help the bubbles of laughter that escaped her lips then. Other campers looked at her curiously, but she didn't stop when Draco moved on to the redhead and earned a stomp on his left foot.

Piper looked at her amusedly. "What's so funny?"

"It- it's just-" Annabeth tried to answer with tears escaping her eyes as she clutched her gut. After a few giggles, she simply said, "A womaniser's failure."  
>...<p>

Draco cursed all the way from the moment his nose got broken by the mudblood and his left foot incapacitated (limping, to be exact) by the weaselette, until the moment he boarded the ship.

He ignored the crazy horse's warnings and orders and focused on his handicaps instead. Bloody Granger just had to hit the same spot that she hit three years ago, and although he had healed it as best as he could, it was still different, considering it has been attacked twice.

And that weaselette was more violent than his brother! He had a bruise! A large, bludger-sized bruise! Alright, fine, it was slightly larger than the snitch, he supposed, but still. Are all Gryffindors this violent? Only the women, most likely.

He muttered colourful profanities as he limped his way to a room, and finding that all were occupied except for one, he walked into it... and slipped.

He groaned a second after the back of his head connected with the floor. His eyes shot open as he heard sniggers... only to be drenched with a bucket full of freezing water. Draco spluttered and coughed, trying to get up and acquaint his fist with his attacker... until he was pelted with eggs. And covered with feathers.

His mother has always advised him that if he felt his murderous temper rising, he should take deep breaths while counting one to ten.

"One... Two... Thr-"

He heard what suspiciously sounded like Colin Creevey's camera taking a picture. He snapped.  
>...<p>

Annabeth was reading one of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer's Night Dream, when she heard the screaming. It was a scream of pure terror, and Annabeth shot up from her bed, rushing to the scene, wondering wildly if the ship had already been attacked so soon.

What she witnessed instead was Travis and Connor running away from a furious, feather-covered person.

She saw Leo, Piper, and the others laughing, except Jason, but his mouth was twitching, itching for a smile. She realised that Draco was the butt of the brothers' pranks this time, and she felt her grin spreading on her face.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MONKEY OUT OF ME-" he roared, circling the dining table, chasing after them.

"We didn't make a monkey out of you- we made a chicken!" Travis hooted, and Connor made clucking sounds. Too late, Annabeth realised that he had taken out his wand, and shouted a spell. A second later, a frog replaced the spot where Connor had stood.

Travis looked at his brother in horror. He dropped to his feet and shook the bewildered frog, screaming, "Connor! Speak to me! Are you ok?"

"Croak."

"Connor!" he wailed in anguish.

At his side, Draco sniffed, and said, "Serves him right. Better be thankful that he's not a ferret." He tucked away his wand, brushing at the feathers that still stuck to his clothes.

Annabeth stomped over to him and demanded, "Change him back."

"Why should I?" He demanded right back.

In one swift motion, she saw Hermione point her wand towards Draco. "Because if you don't, then I'll change you back into your animal form...ferret," she replied. Harry, Ron and Ginny sniggered. Wait... did she say 'back'?

Draco paled a little, but said, "If you want him back so badly, then do it yourself, mudblood. Or is it because you can't?"

Hermione flinched, but said, "I could change him back just fine. But I want you to do it. Or is it because you can't?" She threw his question back at him.

He leered at her, but pointed his wand to Connor and murmured a spell. A moment later, the frog in Travis's hands changed to Connor, sitting on his brother's hands as a result. "Get off me!" Travis snapped back from his distressed state.

"Much better," Hermione stated, and then added, "Maybe I should threaten you more often, ferret, and perhaps it would teach you some manners."

"In your dreams," he growled, pushed her wand from his face, and stormed off.

After a moment of silence save Connor's cries of relief, Jason clicked his tongue, and said, "That went well."

Draco grimaced at the amout of feathers and egg yolk covering him. He should have known that something was up when Chase demanded that he stayed in those two brothers' room. In fact... he turned and locked the door, casting a protective charm for good measure. That'll teach them for messing with a Malfoy. They could sleep on the floor tonight.

He sighed, and muttered a _Scourgify_. His clothes became free of egg yolk, feathers and other unnecessities, but he still felt... sticky. He groaned and started for the shower.

After cleaning himself, he got dressed in a cleaner but same pair of his previous clothes, then laid himself on his bed.

Merlin knows why he decided to go with their silly 'quest' when he could've grabbed the floo powder from the weaselette and escaped from these people. A crazy horse, demented girls, prankster brothers- what else, the grim reaper?

Suddenly, the ship shook and the lights flickered. He sat up on his bed and saw tendrils of shadows unfurling on the walls, creeping all around him. He edged to the end of the bed as the shadows accumulated on the wall above the bed, swirling in circles in a pool of darkness. He reached for his wand, aiming at the dark pool. Questions ran through his mind.

Was this a portal?

Were the Death Eaters coming?

Were they coming for him?

Has the Dark Lord come to kill him?

He was getting anxious by the second, and he didn't know how to react when a boy with black hair sitting on a monstrous beast fell from the shadows.

_...TO BE CONTINUED..._

**So... do you know who it is? I bet you do. I seriously don't know why I did the 'to be continued' thing. For fun?**  
><strong>About the reference to the monkey... you know, when Draco said something like, "How dare you make a monkey out of me...!" I realised that there probably aren't any monkeys in the wizarding world, plus him being a pureblood and all... but hey, he knows what chickens are, probably, so why not monkeys?<strong>  
><strong>And what did you think of the 'action'? It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it was hard to resist :) Maybe next time. Review!<strong>  
><strong>-NK<strong>


	15. Death and Danger

**The person is... (Drumroll please.) NICO! I love Nico. He's cute. I want him as my little brother. Percy's not coming until much, much later. Not too long. Four chapters, maybe? I think Nico's a little bit OOC in this one. Not too much. I'm just trying to make him affected with Percy's disappearance, even if he knows.**

**Disclaimer: Who I am, and who I am not, that is the question. No, sorry, nobody famous.**

**May I present... Chapter 15!**

The boy hopped off from the giant dog, swaying a little when his feet landed on the floor, but he managed to regain his stoic composure. Absent mindedly, he brushed off the dust from his clothes- he was wearing a black t-shirt, and dark jeans. His skull ring glinted from the man-made light, and he looked so pale in contrast to his black hair and clothes. Only his eyes seemed to potray life, but even his brown eyes felt like he was radiating.

He only noticed Draco then, now standing a few feet away, wand still aimed at him. Somehow, his aura darkened, and he frowned. He looked so mature that when he asked, "Who are you?" only did Draco remember that he was still younger than him.

"Who am I? Who the hell are you?" he bit out.

The boy rolled his eyes, and answered, "Sorry, I don't tell my name to strangers."

Draco scowled. "Stop being childish and tell me your name."

"In case you haven't noticed, I am a child," he pointed out, smirking. Draco felt oddly unsettled by that smirk, as if it was familiar, but shrugged it off. He sneered. "Of course, what are you doing here little boy? Lost your dear mummy?" he taunted.

To his surprise, the boy's face darkened. "Yeah, I lost my mummy," he snapped, and then said, "Where's Annabeth? I need to talk to her."

Draco's conscience, if he even has one, wiggled at what he said. What did he mean he lost his mother? Was he a mudblood, and his mother was a muggle? Was she killed by the Dark Lord? He brushed his questions away, and said, "I don't know. Should be around this ship somewhere."

The boy merely nodded and made his way to the door. He twisted the doorknob, frowned some more, and turned to him.

"Why's the door locked? I can't open it."

_Way to state the obvious, _he thought, but pointed his wand to it and muttered, "_Alohomora." _

Instantly, the door opened. The boy raised his eyebrows, but murmured a thanks and walked out. Draco willed himself to stay put, but curiosity got the better of him. As he started to walk out, he remembered the monstrous dog, and turned, wand at ready. But it wasn't there. He blinked a few times. "Bloody hell..."

"Nico!" his attention snapped back to the voices outside his room, and he casually made his way to it.

"What are you doing here?" Draco realised it was Chase's voice, but it was different from the way she spoke to him. It was somehow softer, and laced with... Affection? When he tried to pinpoint it, he also realised that it was the same way his mother used to talk to him, when she used to care. When she used to spoil him rotten and smother him with kisses when he refused to go to bed.

_When did it stop?_ He wondered, and he felt something similar to a knife being wedged into his throat. Right. _The moment there were signs that the Dark Lord was about to rise again. _In that moment, he started to feel resentment for the dark wizard.

Why did he have to make his father a Death Eater?

Why did his mother had to obey him?

Why did he have Draco's childhood robbed away from him?

Why do Death Eaters follow his command when even to others it was clear that he _didn't have the bloody right?_

Draco's train of thoughts stilled. His throat was dry, his chest felt constricted. His hands were clammy, and his posture was rigid. His breaths were shaky and uneven. How the hell did these doubts enter his mind?

He vaguely heard the boy ask Chase who he was, but he couldn't care less. He turned back to where he came from, and didn't come out for hours. It was a mistake to be on this ship, and it was a mistake to believe he could escape from the inevitable reality.

...

Annabeth had noticed him leave and locked himself in his room when Nico asked who he was. She hesitated for a second. Why did he abruptly leave? She told Nico, nevertheless, about what had happened in camp for the last few days.

"Witches and wizards, you say?" Nico asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah. They said that they were from Hogwarts-"

"-School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, yeah, I know," he cut her off.

Annabeth raised a brow at him in irritation, but asked, "How did you know?"

Nico grimaced. "Dad had asked me once to deal with the ghosts there, making sure that they're not doing anything wrong and all. They, uh, made me attract a lot of unwanted attention cause they always bowed at me and begged for forgiveness." He rolled his eyes. "They always thought I was coming for their souls."

Annabeth laughed. "The perks of being a child of the god of the underworld," she mused.

"Yeah, it's crazy," he said, shaking his head in mock annoyance. Then his smile faded and he regarded her. "So how are you?"

"I've been better, but I'm fine," she replied stiffly, avoiding his gaze.

"Two more slits, and you would've died, you know," he said after a pause, "Too deep, and you would've cut your artery. You would've lost a lot of blood that neither nectar or ambrosia could've restore." She eyed him warily, and sighed. "The keyword's 'would've', Nico. I'm not going to kill myself when I'm going to see him in just a few more days."

Nico smiled wryly. "I'm just worried about you, since Percy's missing and all..."

Annabeth gave him a weak smile, and, no longer able to resist, ruffled his hair with both her hands. "Aw, you're so cute!" she cooed.

"Stop it!" he swatted her hands away.

She laughed.

He cleared his throat, and she noticed a pink tinge on his pale cheeks. He looked around, eyes shifting from left to right. "So... Have you heard anything from... Percy's other friends?"

She bit back a smile. "Well, Grover's planning to meet us soon, I'm not sure how, Tyson can't come because he's in charge of the fortress..."

Nico scowled. "And?"

"And what?" she asked him innocently.

"Annabeth!"

"Nico!"

He growled at her while she laughed. "Thalia said she's coming soon..." she trailed off, leaving Nico spluttering excuses with a red face.

She hummed absent mindedly as she opened the cupboards in kitchen. Roughly two hours had passed since they left camp, and she hasn't had breakfast yet. She frowned at the food choices available. Cheetos? Coke? Lay's? Twinkies? Who did these food selections? She checked the other cupboards for something more nutritious and filling, and found a few loaves of bread.

She supposed it would have to do for the time being, and spread a bread with some jam. As she chewed, she wondered what everybody's been up to.

Making a few more sandwiches and placing them in a zip-lock bag, she started to the first room to her right. After knocking and given a grunt of consent, she opened the door and found Harry and Ron playing chess.

"Knight to E4," Ron said, and the chess piece moved by itself to its destination.

Her eyes widened when it moved and destroyed Harry's pawn.

Harry turned to her and smiled. "Oh, hey, Annabeth. What are you doing here?"

She shrugged in response and said, "Just checking on what everybody's doing." Harry nodded, and continued his game. "Queen to B3." After watching them for a few minutes, impressed by Ron's strategy, she left the room and after knocking, entered the room besides it.

Inside was Hermione with a book on her lap, opened, sitting on a bean bag and Ginny was lying on her bed with her head upside down, her red hair almost touching the carpeted floor.

The last time Annabeth talked to Hermione was when she said she didn't trust them, resulting in Hermione spitting insults at her, and when she intervened the moment she and Draco were threatening each other. Both events probably made her dislike Annabeth a little. The silence stretched for a few, long seconds until Ginny sat up and smiled.

"Hi there. You're Annabeth, right? I'm Ginny," she said, and Annabeth took it gratefully. "Yeah, nice to meet you."

Ginny plopped back more comfortably on the bed before patting the space next to it. As Annabeth sat down, she questioned, "So where are we exactly going, anyways? Hermione told me that you guys are somehow the children of greek gods, and we're supposed to protect this ship while you look for this Percy, but that's all we know. Care explaining that?"

Annabeth sighed. "Percy's... He's an important person in our camp, and he's..."

"Someone special," Ginny cut her, and Annabeth smiled.

"Yeah, he is," she said, "He was our leader, but one day... One day, he disappeared. Went missing. There were no signs of him anywhere, at all. Eight months, and still no clue. The goddess Hera did say that someone will come that'll help me-" she stopped and blushed a little at her error.

"Help _us _find him, and Jason, Leo and Piper came along," she continued, "True to her word, we _did _find him. We know that he's at a Roman camp somewhere in San Francisco."

Ginny's eyes bulged. "There's a Roman camp? In San Francisco? That's where we're heading?"

Annabeth nodded. "Jason is a part of the Roman camp. He knows where we're going."

"Wow," Ginny faked wiping her forehead in distress, and said, "Who knew what a large world we're living in? Wizards, demigods, greek and roman. What else is out there? A hydra?"

"Well..."

Just then, Hermione screamed.

**Who can guess what's out there? I love hydras, don't you? Have loved them since I saw them in Disney's Hercules.**

**I made somewhat a rule for myself that I'll only post when there are more than 5 revies for the previous chapter. My roller coaster's slowing down! Gimme some love! (no hate! Shoo shoo!) **

***REVIEW!***

**-NK**


	16. Don't look, Déjavu

**Hi there again! I know it's very late, and I'm sorry. In my defense, my word has somehow expired, so instead of working on a laptop like I usually do, I'm working with my tab, which is more unpleasant and error-prone. And I had a case of movie-watching. I watched movies a lot of times in my 5-days absence.**

**Disclaimer: If I were a real author, I'd be working with a type-writer, which I unfortunatelybdo not have.**

**I bring you... Chapter16!**

Annabeth heard a second of a hiss to save herself, but when she screamed, "Don't look at it!" it was too late. She stared, in shock, as she saw Hermione being turned into stone. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the gorgons breaking their way into the room, smiling gleefully while the snakes on their head hissed.

"Hermione!" she heard Ginny scream as she saw her friend solidify, her eyes wide and her lips forming an 'o'.

Quick as a lightning, Annabeth grabbed Ginny's wrist and brought her out of the room, closing the door and blocking it with a chair. She turned to Ginny, who was hyperventilating and freaking out. "Hermione! We've got to save her! She turned to stone!"

"I know, but we need the others. Stay here. When she comes, close your eyes and try to hide or protect yourself," she ordered, then hurried to find Jason and the others.

...

"I don't really know what to make of them," Jason's best friend, Leo, admitted to him. Jason looked away from the clouds and stared at him, who was again fiddling with more trinkets from his pockets. His movements were quicker when he was thinking, and now, in just under a minute, he's already moved on from his finished robotic scorpion to what looked like a hilt of a sword.

"Don't get me wrong," Leo interrupted him before he could say anything, "It's not that I don't like them, I do. Hermione's hot, don't you think?" He grinned as Jason rolled his eyes.

"I think she likes Ron," he commented.

Leo's face dropped a little. "Really? Oh, well," he sighed, and frowned. "But that's not the point. It's like... I feel that there's a bigger picture here, one that they see and we don't. I mean, don't you think that if you were in their shoes, you'd question more about us? That you'd be a little more reluctant? The way they acted, it's as if going with us was the better option, that they're-"

Just then, Annabeth burst into the room. "Gorgons. Attacking. Now!" she pressed, then dashed away.

Jason immediately got up from his chair and ran out, checking his pocket for his coin, with Leo following in pursuit, already taking out his club. He quickly looked to his left and right, and after seeing the hysterically crying redheaded girl, he ran to her.

Seconds later, everybody joined them, Harry and Ron comforting the girl and asking her where the other girl was.

Jason saw Annabeth just behind them, taking out her knife. "What happened?" he asked.

"Medusa's sisters. Hermione looked."

Before he could ask her to elaborate, a gorgon crashed through the door, effectively leaving a big hole so that her sister could go through. They hissed, and he looked away. He heard Annabeth order not to look at them, and he flipped his coin as he made his way from the creature. Heads. His coin fell back into his hand as a sword.

He risked a look back, and saw that everybody was a fair distance away from the snake-haired monsters. Everybody but Harry. He was on his knees on the floor, scrambling for his wand, which was too near to the gorgons. The first gorgon noticed him and half-laughed, half-hissed.

"Lookie here, sister, it's the son of Poseidon!" It hiss-exclaimed. Harry stilled at the raspy voice.

The gorgon behind her peered over her sister's wings. "Son of Poseidon? So?"

Jason caught Annabeth's eye, who was hiding behind the table, farther away from him and Harry. She mouthed, "Get. Him. Away!" while she eyed the second gorgon.

The first gorgon hissed at her. "You fool, did you forget? He's the one that killed our sister,and then killed us!" She wasn't looking at Harry now, and he tried to get his attention.

His efforts were to no avail. Glancing at the still bickering gorgons, he inched his way closer to him. He winced as his sword made a small noise against the floor, but either the gorgons were deaf or too caugt up in their argument to notice. He saw Piper on the other side, looking at him worriedly.

"Distract them while I get him away," he hand-signalled to her. She signed him an ok.

Slowly, she stood up, and after thinking for a second, she took off both her shoes and threw them at the two monsters. It hit one of them on her shoulder and the other on her arm. The gorgons glared in her direction.

Piper faked a surprised expression, her right hand on her lips.

"Oops. It was supposed to hit you both on the head."

She turned on her heels and ran as they chased after her, throwing balls of fire. He hoped that Leo or Clarisse was with her. He ran to Harry and helped him up. "Thanks," he said, grabbing his wand back.

"No problem," Jason replied as Annabeth, Connor, Ron and the redheaded girl reached them.

"So what's the plan?" he asked, looking expectantly at Annabeth.

...

Running away from someone when you can't exactly look at your chaser wasn't exactly easy by Piper's standards. She never had to run without looking back, even when she stole that Hummer and a police car was hot on her trails. Even though she wasn't exactly the legal age to drive. And that she could charm speak the poilceman into believing that she was sixteen and the Hummer belonged to her long-lost uncle.

But if she's going to use charm speaking, she needed to look into their eyes, which, in this case, would result into her turning into a stone.

So running was the best option.

Even though it was kind of being rendered difficult given that she's only wearing socks now. She came across a corner and turned to the right, and before she could register what was happening, she was pulled into a room.

She turned and saw Leo closing the door, his black hair a little unruly, and heard the gorgons arguing again.

"Where did she go?" one of them hissed.

"I don't know."

"See! You're always like this! No wonder that son of Poseidon killed us, because you were too stupid!"

"I am not! It's those demigods at the Roman camp, remember?"

"But he led us to them!"

Piper and Leo exchanged a look. Son of Poseidon. Roman camp. Killed the gorgons. "Percy Jackson," Leo whispered, and Piper nodded.

"We've got to tell Annabeth and Jason," she whispered back to him.

He gestured to the door. "First things first."

The voices were growing fainter now, and Leo stood up. Piper grabbed his arm as he started to reach for the door. He looked down at her and raised his eyebrows. "Do you know how to kill a gorgon?" she asked him.

"Cutting off its head?"

"With a club?"

Leo looked into his hand and finally noticed he was holding his club. He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well..." He put his club away and began rummaging through the contents of his bag. After eating a quick taco, he revealed a hilt of a sword. "I made it," he claimed, grinning.

"What is it?" Piper asked. He pressed a button, and immediately blue light shone from the sword. Piper stared at it in shock. "Is that a..."

"A light saber," Leo confirmed, smiling proudly. "Cool, huh? I've got another one in here with pink light, if you want."

Piper scrunched her nose, and finally said, "Leo, you do know that monsters could only be killed by celestial bronze, right?"

Leo stopped swinging his sword- light saber- around, and he stared at her. A second later, his face dropped. "What?" he asked in a disappointed tone. Before she could answer, Leo swung the light saber across her arm. She jumped away from it, even though the sword passed through her arm and left her unharmed.

"Leo!" she scolded, but he was busy being sad over his new weapon.

"Aw, man. What's the point of me making this, then?"

"We'll have a duel with it later," Piper said to get his mind back to the danger at hand, and asked, "But right now, what're we going to do with the gorgons?"

Leo finally took out a celestial bronze sword, and opened the door. "Let's find out, shall we?"

...

Annabeth looked around. So far, everything was going according to plan. One of the gorgons had already disintegrated after Clarisse used her celestial bronze sword and elecrified stick at it, for good measure. Now, Jason and Connor were taking turns in distracting the monster and hitting it.

Harry and Ron were in one of the rooms, tending to the wrecked Ginny, and gods know where Travis, Leo and Piper were.

Just then she felt a presence at her back, and she heard Jason telling her to look out. Before she could get away, the gorgon had a hold on her left wrist. Immediately, Annabeth closed her eyes. A sense of dèjavu washed over her, but this time, the one holding her wasn't a woman turned into stone, it was Medusa's sister herself.

"Well what do we have here?" she said, "A daughter of Athena?"

Annabeth felt the familiar and unwelcomed feeling of the snakes picking on her skin. She struggled to keep her eyes shut as one of them prodded her eyelids. Her breathing hitched as another poked at her ear.

"I've heard that children of Athena have such mesmerising grey eyes. Can you open your eyes, dear, so I can see them?"

Fear coiled through her as she realised how alike they were, even the voice felt so familiar. She wondered where Jason and the others were, not killing this monster. She felt a snake poking her eyelids again. Because if they attack her, then they might hit Annabeth too due to the close proximity. Annabeth started to really feel the danger of the situation.

Again, she started to desperately wished that this was a dream, that she would wake up back at her cabin, that when she went outside she would see Percy, and he'd smile at her, asking, "Going somewhere again, wise girl?"

She desperately wanted everything back to the way it was.

"Open your eyes, dear. I want to see you. You can only get to know someone by seeing, right?" she urged.

Her determination faltered. Maybe this was really just a dream.

"Just one look," she whispered, "And you'll know for sure."

Annabeth calmed down. This was a dream. She'd wake up and Percy would be there, making everything all right again. She just needed to open her eyes.

"Don't look, Chase!"

Her eyes snapped shut and she turned to her right. The snakes hissed, as did the gorgon. Only one person called her Chase. But why-

"_Incendio!"_

She felt someone grab her hand and pulled her away, just as she felt heat erupt from her side. The gorgon started to screech, and she dared to open her eyes. The gorgon was now kneeling on the floor, writhing in flames. It placed its hand over its eyes, still screaming in agony.

Leo, being the first to snap out of his shock, swiftly drew his sword and cut off its head.

She noticed that the screaming hasn't stopped, and only when the grip on her arm tightened did she realise it was her. She quickly quieted down.

"Sorry," she rasped out.

She slid her gaze away from the charred remains of the gorgon, which was starting to turn into dust. She focused instead on her wrist. Strangely, every part of her looked fine and normal except for the bruise shaped like a hand that was starting to show. She turned it around and noticed that there were also a few cuts from the gorgon's claws. She guessed it was pretty deep, considering how they were aching now.

"You should treat that."

She jumped, and oddly wasn't surprised when she met grey eyes. Grey eyes that usually looked stormy, but was now calm. _It's like his eyes are forecasting his mood, _she mused to herself.

She stared at him for a few seconds before she had put together a thought to say, "Thank you."

He seemed to want to say something, but his eyes changed back to their stormy mood. He pulled away from her and released his grip. "Don't think of it as anything, Chase. You owe me, and I suggest you pay me back by _leaving me alone," _he snarled, and walked back to his room, slamming the door.

_Apparently, it's not just his eyes that are volatile, _she thought.

**I know that some of you are skeptical of the whole Draco/Annabeth idea. And honestly, I had already thought of your claims (like they look alike, and they already have someone) before this whole thing started. Don't worry, I've figured that out. But I'm not going to give away the plot.**

**Oh, and another reason for my delay is that a certain regular hasn't reviewed... I've always looked forward to what some of you say. Don't stop!**

**Thank you to all that's reviewed. I take what you say seriously. Don't think other wise. Virtual hugs to you people! :)**

**-NK**


	17. Questions and Answers

**Bear with me, please. I think I'll strain my hand if I keep writing with my tab. I'm going on holiday this Monday :) So you'll have to be patient. Don't worry, it's just four days. **

**Disclaimer: I'm J.K. Rowling/ Rick Riordan, but somehow my body got switched with a teenage girl.**

**On with the story!**

"Annabeth!" She snapped her eyes from the recently slammed door and averted her attention to a panicked-looking Piper. Annabeth furrowed her brows in worry.

"What's wrong?" she asked the African-American girl.

"The girl, Hermione, she's-"

"Oh, gods, I forgot!" Annabeth exclaimed, cursing herself. She rushed to the bedroom where Harry and Ron were in, wildly thinking how to explain to them that their friend would never wake again. As soon as she opened the door, however, her eyes widened.

There, sitting on the bed, looking fine and dandy, was Hermione. She was smiling, even, listening with weary eyes to Ron. Ginny was on her left, and Harry was on her right. Ron was in a chair right in front of her.

"We thought you were a goner, Mione!"

Hermione just smiled at him, but her smile was somehow off. Her pupils flickered from left to right, and she was slightly pale. Like waiting, waiting just for something from the shadows to pounce at her...

Faintly Annabeth noticed that they were holding hands as she still stared at them, mind frantic. "How-?"

She was trying to splutter a question until Nico appeared next to her with bed hair, rubbing his eyes. Even though at thirteen, his height was catching up, and he was almost as tall as her. "What's going on?" he mumbled.

The conversation in the room ceased, and all eyes turned to look at him.

He was fully awake now, and his dark demeanor was back. His scowl was evident, and he crossed his arms on his chest. Usually, at the sight of him, even mortals have the instinct to stay away. However, Annabeth didn't have the heart to tell him that his supposedly fearful aura was dampened when his hair was sticking up in different directions.

After Annabeth concluded that they were just too confused at the sight of Nico to speak up, she turned to him, and said, "In the midst of your deep slumber, Medusa's sisters attacked."

Nico scowled, and said, "You know that shadow travel wears me out-"

Annabeth held up a hand to cut him off. "I know, I know, but that's not it. Hermione looked at one of them in the eye, and she turned to stone."

Nico opened his mouth, and Annabeth guessed he was about to say something until he was again cut off, this time by the girl who was supposed to be stone. "I thought Medusa's sisters can't turn people to stone?"

"Well-" Nico started saying, until Annabeth interrupted him, ignoring his death glare. No pun intended.

"They can't," she agreed, "But with Gaia rising right now, I'm thinking that they're getting stronger." She looked at Nico for confirmation, and he rolled his eyes, still scowling.

"Sure, only talk to me when it's about the dead rising," he muttered, but Annabeth just looked expectantly at him.

He sighed. "Yes, because Gaia's rising, not only are monsters escaping from the underworld, they're getting stronger too." He stilled for a moment, as if sensing something. A look of confusion flitted his young yet mature features. He turned to Annabeth and asked, "The girl turned to stone, where is she?"

"That would be me," Hermione spoke with conviction, raising her hand.

Nico's face mirrored her own just a few minutes ago, eyes widening. "You? But how-"

"Harry used _Finite Incartartem _ on me for a few times, and I came back," she answered nodding to Harry.

Nico's eyes flashed for a second, and then turned back to its abyss-like character.

"Nico?" Annabeth called, trying to worm out what he was thinking of. He was still muttering to himself, and she could catch a few words like, 'Gaia', 'weakening', and 'underworld'. Her eyes widened. "You mean..." she trailed off, looking at him wide-eyed.

He nodded, then shifted his gaze on Hermione. In a second, the temperature in the room dropped, and everyone was still.

"Hermione Jean Granger, you have cheated death. If Gaia was not rising, you would be dead, gorgon or no gorgon," he paused, and for a second, remorse flickered in his eyes.

The last part he added in an almost inaudible whisper. "Should the gods make their way through this, Hades would claim your soul and you would die."

He walked out without another word after that, and when Annabeth's eyes turned away from his retreating figure, Hermione's fearful ones caught hers.

Annabeth understood then, why the girl's posture was never calm. She knew. She died, and came back, and knew it shouldn't have happened. Her questioning tears fell and slid down her cheek, and Annabeth, finding that she had no answer to those tears, averted her eyes and heavy-heartedly walked away.

Right outside the room, she found Piper and Leo with mournful faces.

Piper's eyes, now brown, pierced through her. "She won't really die, will she?"

Annabeth contemplated of keeping mum, but sighed. She looked at her friend regretfully. "Since Nico says she will, then yes. If we defeat Gaia, and we have to or the world would be destroyed, Hades really will claim her life."

Piper looked dejectedly at the floor, but Leo perked up. "That reminds me. We've got to tell you and Jason something." He gestured for them to follow him, and she complied. They walked into the living room, where a few couches were placed surrounding a wooden table. Sitting on one of the couches was Jason, and Annabeth joined him. Leo and Piper sat on the other couch to her left.

"So, what is it that you wanted to tell us?" Annabeth asked after glancing at Jason, who only shrugged, indicating he didn't know what it was all about.

He took a glimpse at Piper, who nodded, urging him to go on. "Well," he started, "When Piper was being chased by the gorgons, I grabbed her and we hid for a few minutes in a room. The gorgons were right outside the door, arguing, and they mentioned...something."

Unconsciously, Annabeth leaned closer to him, failing at masking the hopefulness in her eyes. "What? What did they say?"

Leo frowned, then turned to Piper and said, "Now that I think about it, it's not really important, is it? I mean, we know this already, sort of."

Piper gave him a look while surreptitiously glancing at Annabeth. "Just tell them. To make sure."

Leo cleared his throat, and turned back to her.

"One said that the son of Poseidon killed them. Two argued that he only led them to the Roman camp, causing them to be killed. Did you guys remember how one said Harry was a son of Poseidon?"

Annabeth waited for him to say that the gorgon probably meant Percy, because they looked alike, until she noticed that they were staring at her. "What?"

Jason had a troubled expression, and said, "Percy didn't exactly tell us he was at the Roman camp. What if I was wrong, and it was Harry?"

Annabeth shook her head, and without doubt replied, "It's Percy. Why would Harry be at the Roman camp?"

"The gorgons recognised him!"

"Not exactly," she mumbled, and inwardly cringed when they stared at her, waiting for her explanation. She bit her lip, and finally told them while inspecting the carpet, "Percy and...Harry have the same black hair, the same face structure, and the same ocean blue eyes. Even I sometimes see how...alike they really are."

Jason and Leo had surprised looks on their faces, and Piper was looking at her with understanding. Annabeth shifted her gaze away again.

She inconspicuously took a deep breath and turned to them, determination in her eyes. "So it really must be Percy at the camp, not Harry."

Jason blinked, and lifted a finger, saying, "We know that one, Percy's at the Roman camp." All of them nodded. He lifted another finger. "Two, he killed the gorgons." Another finger. "Three, the gorgons came back to life. Four, Gaia is getting stronger and the underworld is getting weaker." He held up his fifth finger. "Lastly, for now, let's focus on making sure the Romans don't kill us before saving the world, shall we?"

...

Draco had a scowl on his face as he paced back and forth in his room. He felt like at war with himself. His conflicting emotions on what he did was making him more and more frustrated.

Truthfully, he didn't know why he saved Chase from what he guessed was a gorgon. All he knew was that, after hearing the commotion outside and seeing what she was about to do- something similar to protectiveness flared inside him, and what he did was out of pure instinct, just like when he threw himself in front of the headmaster.

Lucius help him, he even felt _worried._

When he saw the bruise and the undoubtedly painful, deep cuts on her wrist, he had an urge to heal her as best as possible, even though he wasn't sure he could. He had enough sense to stop that thought, but not before blurting out, "You should treat that."

The moment her grey eyes flicked to him, he had that urge to protect her again. Something unfamiliar tickled inside him as she said, "Thank you."

He remained quiet, just staring at her. The reason why he did it was at the tip of his tongue. Because he saw her struggling. He saw her hurting. He saw her on the verge of giving up. That's when he snapped himself out of it and pulled away, realising that he had been holding her longer than necessary.

The familiar venom filled his eyes and voice as he told her to stay away from him, and he tried to not think too much of the hurt behind her confusion as he walked away. He didn't want to walk away. He wanted to stay, and that's what feared him the most.

And so the annoying, conflicting voices were back in his head.

_"Something's obviously troubling her, Draco. It's up to you to make her feel better and get her mind off it," _ one part of him whispered, but the other voice interrupted, saying, _"Actually it's up to you to look away, because you don't give a damn about mudbloods, or anyone else for that matter. You're a Malfoy, and Malfoys don't help anybody."_

"After what I did, I'm not a Malfoy, anymore, am I?" he grimaced, and stopped pacing, his arms falling back to his sides.

"I'm not a Malfoy anymore," he said out loud, half expecting that the voices would be back in his mind, arguing that his father hadn't officially disinherited him. But, for once, his mind was quiet. There was nothing telling him what he should and shouldn't do. Suddenly, he knew what to do.

Without thinking it much through, he got out of his room, opening every single door on his way. When each one disappointed him, he went to the living room, and he was about to dismiss it until he saw a small movement from the corner of his eye. He stopped.

"Chase?"

Draco hated how his voice sounded uncertain, his father had always told him that giving away what you felt was a sign of weakness, and Malfoys are not weak. But he's not a Malfoy anymore.

Her head moved, but she didn't quite acknowledge him.

Surely what he was about to do will disgrace his father. Not only his father, but also his family, the pure bloods. What he's about to do was surely an act of defying the Dark Lord, but at that moment, he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't feel anything. No fear, no worry.

He cleared his throat, and quietly said, "Annabeth?"

**You know, I was serious with that goal of mine. Five reviews for a chapter. I'm seriously wondering if it's possible that the internet is bad around the world, thus the reason why less reviews. **

**Woohoo, development!**

**So, I want to know, if you guys will stick with this until the very end? I don't want it to be very long, but I don't want to rush things either. **

_**Review!**_

**-NK**

**P.S. Nope, you didn't :)**


	18. Dreams and Delusions

**I didn't post this earlier because I thought it was too short. But now, it's a little longer than usual. That's good, right? So my note's a little long- some of you might check for your names :)**

**To Lexia Daughter Of Athena- I got confused about that, because I was watching Deathly Hallows before I wrote it, hahah. So sorry.**

**To JGS39- If I was Rick Riordan, I guess it would be a huge mistake to forget you character's traits. But I'm not. So I'm sorry for being human and somehow have offended you.**

**To Rosanaa- I'm happy to hear that. Thank you so much, and I'll do my best. I hope to not disappoint. :)**

**To Daughter of Artemis- Aww, I love Draco too, hahah! I love him more in this :)**

**To Taer99- Thank you :) I always rack my brain on what to write next, so everytime I post a chapter, I feel a wee bit doubtful.**

**To AnnaAvril555- That means a lot. Really. Thank you :)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, last time I checked.**

When Jason, Leo and Piper decided to talk strategy just in case with Clarisse, Connor and Travis, Annabeth excused herself and sat in the living room. She thought it was a good idea at first, to just take a step back and take a breather. Too much was happening already, and it was only the first day.

But when left on her own, she discovered that the voices in her head only got stronger.

Her emotions and thoughts were in turmoil.

She hated that Hera was using them as her chess pieces. She hated that Percy was taken away, and Harry's alikeness seemed to mock her. She hated that she had to be saved by Draco from something that she could've handled herself. She hated that they were chosen without consent to stop Gaia, who was taking and giving life as she pleased. She hated that she had to do this, and she hated that she was risking her life for the world again. For once, she hated that she wasn't _normal._

Tears threatened to pour out of her eyes, but she refused to give in. Tears would show that she's weak, and she would _not _be weak when seeing Percy was within reach.

She shook her head lightly. She was stronger than this. This was nothing.

"Chase?"

Her eyes widened and her breath got caught in her throat. Her eyes were stinging again, and she shifted her head, not fully trusting her voice. Even her breaths were shaky, and she tried to calm herself down. She will not break down, especially not _now. _Not when _he's _here and could see her.

There was a silence, and for a second, she thought that maybe he'd left. She released the breath she was holding.

"Annabeth?"

Her heart stilled. Suddenly, it's like she couldn't move, couldn't see. She didn't realise that she wasn't breathing until she felt a discomfort in her chest. She took a shaky breath, unsure of what to do.

She heard him walk closer, and he paused. He entered her vision as he propped himself against the table, not far from her, just a little to her right. His arms were crossed against his chest, and she felt his scrutinizing gaze on her. After a sharp breath, he said, "Please don't."

Her eyes snapped to his. He was wincing a little, but he tried to hide it.

"Please don't what?" she croaked.

He uncrossed his arms, and she saw that his right hand was slowly reaching her direction. He saw this too, and paused. He then retracted it, a frown on his face.

When his eyes looked back at her, his features softened, but it was now a blank mask.

"Please don't cry," he said quietly.

Her hand shot to her face. Her cheeks were wet. She stared at the wetness on her fingers. She didn't even notice she was crying.

Hastily, she wiped her silent tears with her sleeves.

She calmed herself, glanced at his indifferent face, and mumbled, " Sorry."

Surprise lit his eyes for a moment, but then he shrugged. His face was still blank, but his eyes had a calculating look in them. "Why were you crying?"

She was momentarily caught off guard with his question. She didn't expect him to care, and she was seconds away from announcing that comment, but she held herself back. Besides, he looked genuinely curious to the reason why she was crying. Instead, she asked in a quiet voice, "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged again, but answered, "You look like the type to be too proud of crying." His lips quirked. "As a matter of fact, you look like a Gryffindor."

She chuckled, and nodded. "I was momentary overwhelmed, that's all."

"My father said to me once that crying is a sign of weakness."

Before she even registered her flash of anger at his words, he had already continued, "But I think he's wrong. You're strong for facing the fact that you couldn't take it. Holding back would be admitting that you're not strong enough to face it. I envy you."

She only stared at him, speechless as he stood up and started to walk back to his room.

"Annabeth?" he called, making shock course through her again. He was looking at the floor as he said it, and his words shouldn't have reached her with that low volume and the distance between them, but they reached her nevertheless.

"I'm sorry."

...

That night, they spent dinner with tense conversations. In fact, Annabeth thought that it shouldn't even exactly be called a dinner, considering their food palate consists of twinkies and Cheetos. Tacos for Leo.

It was a surprise for her that all twelve of them went into the kitchen looking for food at the same time.

For the first few minutes, they ate in companiable silence, only sounds of chrunching and wrinkling of the bag of crisps filling the air. When Annabeth finished her bag of nachos, she glanced at them and sighed. There was no point in avoiding things anymore.

"So what's the plan, Jason?" she finally asked.

Jason glanced up at her from his can of warm soup- where did he get that and how did it get warm?- and cleared his throat. "Go with the flow?"

She quirked a brow and asked incredulously, "Are you serious?"

He sighed. "Well, for one thing, I've just realised how many we are." He looked at the other eleven pairs of eyes in the room. "And I don't think that not knowing almost half of the people in this room helps our situation much," he said truthfully.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and I'm supposed to be dead," she said from the corner of the room dryly.

Annabeth didn't know how anybody would respong to that, and was surprised when Draco asked, "What do you mean, Granger?" Apparently, Hermione and the other three were surprised too, and she hesitated.

"It's none of your business, Malfoy," Harry glared at him, and Draco merely shrugged, unperturbed.

The tension became heavier, and she felt like she needed to escape. "I-I need to go," she finally muttered, and made her way to her, Piper and Clarisse's room. Once inside, she threw herself onto her bed and let out a long sigh.

"These few days are going to be long," she muttered.

"You've got that right."

She jumped and turned, relaxing when she saw it was only Piper. Annabeth threw her a glare. "Don't surprise me like that," she scowled at her friend.

Piper smiled lightly at her. "I never thought I could with you being so tense all the time."

At this, Annabeth stilled.

"You're doing it again," Piper pointed out and smiled at her when she relaxed her shoulders again.

"With being a demigod, you learn to be aware of monsters," Annabeth explained, shrugging, "There's hardly any time for rest."

"Speaking of monsters..." Piper trailed off, and Annabeth quirked an eyebrow. There were small creases on Piper's forehead, and Annabeth watched as she contemplated on wording out her thoughts. After another minute of silence, Annabeth lost her patience.

"What is it, Piper?" she asked exasperatedly.

Piper scrutinized her for a few seconds, and then shrugged.

"Nevermind, it's not that important," she was walking out until she paused and turned to Annabeth, biting her lip. Annabeth frowned at her in question, and at last Piper asked, "You still love Percy, don't you?"

Annabeth blinked, surprise evident in her eyes, but slowly nodded. "Of course I do," she said, wincing when she heard her voice cracking at the end. Suddenly, she was wary. "Why?"

Piper seemed to want to say something, but at the last minute changed her mind, shaking her head instead.

"Nothing. I'll just go and talk to the others a bit," she smiled lightly, "Get some rest, kay, Annabeth?"

Annabeth nodded, watching Piper close the door behind her.

_You still love Percy, don't you?_

As he appeared in her mind, frequently since he was missing, she felt that familiar yet unwelcomed ache lodged in her chest. She felt herself choking up as she remembered his messy, dark hair, his laughing green eyes, his smile. She took a few deep breaths, gasping a little. Unconsciously, she rocked back and forth, her kness in her arms. Gods, she'd never missed anyone like this.

Of course she loved him.

There was no doubt.

...

She was running.

She didn't know where to, or what from. All she knew was that she needed to run. Before it's too late. Before it catches up. Before it got away.

Branches were scratching her arms as she ran past, occasionally whipping at her face, leaving a few stinging cuts that she'd barely felt. The air was heavy, damp, and her sneakers were making squelching noises as they padded on the moist ground. It was quiet, save her laboured breaths and her tumbling feet.

They were aching. Every part of her body was, but adrenaline and fear kept her going. She needed to get out. Faintly, she thought that this must be what Snow White felt like as she was running away from the Queen's huntsman. Only she had it harder with her dress and heels.

Anywhere. Anywhere would do. Just out of here.

And as soon as that thought flitted through her mind, she was no longer in the dark woods.

She winced as the harsh sunlight entered her vision, and slowly looked around after her grey eyes had adjusted to the brightness. She was at a beach. Dazedly, she took in the white sand, the crashing waves. The sea stretched out across the horizon, farther than she could see. The azure sky was cloudless, and there was a gentle breeze.

The view wasn't the one that made her heart skip a beat.

In the distance, she could just make out a figure walking slowly towards her.

It was too far to see. It could've been anybody, that build and black hair wasn't uncommon. But she ran to him nevertheless. She didn't know how, but her feet were bare, and the hot sand was biting her skin.

She didn't care.

Her pace never slowed, even when her lungs were burning and even her eyes were blurring from the heat.

Only when she clearly saw his eyes did she stop.

His sea green eyes made her breath hitch, and suddenly she was aware that this probably wasn't real.

She brought her hand to her head, trying to grasp her most recent memory. She talked to Piper. She thought of Percy. And then she drifted off to sleep. Oh. Her hand fell limp at her side, and her gaze was at everywhere but him.

"Annabeth?"

Her eyes snapped to his. Her chest consricted.

"Percy," she whispered, and he looked unsure.

"Please don't," he pleaded.

She looked at him confusedly. She felt faint, and warm. Her vision was blurring again. She wiped the sweat forming on her forehead. "Please don't what?" she asked.

"Please don't cry, Annabeth," he said and took a step towards her.

She felt herself flush and hastily wiped the tears with the back of her hand. Her vision of him was clear now. So it wasn't the sun. "Sorry," she mumbled, averting her gaze.

He was quiet for a minute. She was painfully aware of the length of his silence as she counted the seconds. Percy suddenly steped forward and engulfed her in a hug. She stilled as his long arms wound around her back, his cheek resting by her head. He soothingly rubbed her back, and she relaxed, tentatively putting her own arms around his waist.

"Don't cry anymore, okay?" his voice barely above a whisper near her ear.

She let her eyes close, breathing in his familiar scent. "Why?" she asked, almost absent mindedly.

"I don't want you to be weak because of me," he murmured.

She jerked as a thought swam through her mind.

_"My father said to me once that crying was a sign of weakness."_

Her breath quickened, and she tried to force herself to calm down. She shouldn't be bothered by this, of course crying shows how weak and vulnerable she actually was...

_"But I think he's wrong."_

She shut her eyes, attempting to clear her mind. She was with Percy now, she shouldn't be thinking of petty thoughts like these...

_"You're strong for facing the fact that you couldn't take it."_

Percy. Percy. She opened her eyes. She needed to see him...

_"I envy you."_

She didn't feel that comfort she had expected when Percy's sea green eyes looked worriedly at her. She didn't feel any comfort at all. She pulled away from him.

"I- I need to go-" she panted a little as she struggled to break free from his grasp on her wrist.

"Did I say anything wrong?"

Worry and hurt lined his features as he looked at her.

She cleared her face and stopped her futile attempts after thinking that she shouldn't be selfish. There were more important matters at hand.

"Where are you now?" she asked in monotone.

His eyebrows furrowed more. "Annabeth..."

She forcefully looked at him, asking firmly, "Where are you now?"

"We're on the way back to the camp from Canada..."

She nodded stiffly, and questioned again, "When will you be there?"

"I guess in a couple of hours, so that we're in time for the feast for tuna, it's tomorrow."

She nodded again, and stared at the ground. "We'll tell you if we're arriving," she informed him. Quickly, she pulled her hand away from his. He looked stricken, both from the lost of contact and her cold front.

She met his gaze once more, and felt her heart clench at his expression. "See you," she whispered, before running back to where she had come from.

**I feel bad for doing that to Percy... But it was supposed to be. Actually, it was just a spur of the moment decision thing, and that's how it came out. Sigh... **

**My updates will be kinda irregular now. What with all the dinners and such...**

**Call it an early Christmas present if you'd like. :) Or just an advanced/ belated birthday present, lol. It's my parents' anniversary today :)**

**Let's set the bars higher. Ten reviews. I've never had ten reviews for a chapter. Go, go, go!**

**-NK**


	19. Confusing Conclusions

**Don't give me that look. I'm still tapping onto my tab here, and senior year sucks. Sucks, I tell you. I got homework already on the second day school started! **

**And, you didn't give me ten reviews. But since you guys were only one review more short, I decided to post this. Sorry if it's not much. School drains me out. **

**Disclaimer: Never have I ever used other people's characters to my own entertainment. *drinks hot chocolate* **

**Chapterrrrr... I lost count. **

She woke with a start, cold sweat covering herself, her breathing irregular and her heart beat thumping loudly in the quiet, dark room. A slight movement and a wistful murmur to her right told her that Piper was sleeping peacefully beside her. With the minimal light the moon provided, she saw Clarisse also sleeping soundly on the floor in her sleeping bag.

Annabeth treaded her way to the bedroom door carefully. From the war, she knew Clarisse became a light sleeper. But also from that, Annabeth acquired a skill of being stealthy.

She let out a sigh of relief when they didn't wake after the door creaked a little as she opened it.

Quickly, she exited, and headed to the kitchen.

She decided to have a glass of water, finishing it in two gulps. Her throat felt parched. She rubbed her neck, which felt cold to her clammy hands.

She sighed, rubbing her temples. She knew that she probably wouldn't be able to sleep. She glanced at her t-shirt from the day before and her jeans. She pursed her lips. Not that she'd even feel comfortable enough to sleep anyways.

She walked to the living room, considering reading her unfinished book instead, but found herself being propelled from it. She cursed as she fell on her back, and started to look for the culprit and examine the reason at the same time. She threw her shoe at a random area of the living room. It bounced back.

Annabeth eyed her slightly frayed shoe warily.

Why was there a _force field_ surrounding the living room?

Then she noticed the two dark lumps on the floor, not far from the first room. When she neared them, her suspicions were confirmed.

It was Connor and Travis, sleeping.

She nudged both of their forms with her sneaker-less foot.

Travis groaned and rolled to his other side while Connor rubbed an eye. Slowly, he opened them.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked, amused.

Connor sat up, and immediately hugged her foot. "Annabeth! Am I glad to see you! Help me!"

She frowned at him and shook her foot, asking him to let go, but he held on. "Connor, let go. You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

He still stubbornly held on, but he pouted. "That vampire-looking guy couldn't take a joke, and now he's locked us out of our own room!"

Annabeth chuckled at Connor's reference of Draco to a vampire, but still gave him a hard look.

"And what happened to the living room?"

Connor pouted some more.

"I think he made sure that we can't sleep on the couches with magic."

She sighed. Of course. Why should she expect anything less?

"Why didn't you sleep in Jason's room? I'm sure there are a couple of extra sleeping bags," she said to him, who became wide-eyed. He grinned sheepishly. "We forgot."

She didn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. Typical.

She sighed. "Just go," she said and Connor immediately woke his brother up and made their way to Jason's room. As soon as they left, Annabeth felt that loneliness engulf her again. The dream was constantly in her mind, ready to surface whether she wanted to or not. Questions were already bubbling inside her, questions that she didn't know what and wasn't sure she even _want _to answer.

She didn't feel ready.

So instead of facing them like she usually would, she picked up her book and started to read, desperate to lose herself in it instead.

...

When Draco woke from his sleep and found out it was past eight in the morning, which meant he approximately had four hours of sleep with all his tossing and turning, he felt cranky.

In fact, he was always cranky in the morning, but the lack of sleep had multiplied his crankiness tenfold. And it wasn't just thoughts of Chase that had kept him up either. It was the usual nightmares, nightmares that he'd rather not dwell on at the time being. Quickly, he got out of his plush green and silver bed, dressing himself with a dark blue sweater and black pants.

He unlocked his room and went his way to the kitchen, pausing when he saw that the living room was empty. He smirked. Undoubtedly, the twins had a worse time sleeping than him.

Then he frowned.

Where were they?

He turned, checking the corridor, and confirmed that they were nowhere to be seen.

He scowled.

This wasn't meant to be. They were supposed to endure a night of unattainable sleep on the cold, hard floor. He was supposed to open his doors to find them on their knees, begging for forgiveness. In fact, they should be preparing him breakfast right now, as a sign of remorse.

But _where were they?_

Just then the guy with the blonde hair that was supposedly their leader walked out from the kitchen, munching on a toast.

"Oh, hey, morning," he greeted as Draco glowered at him as the twins came behind him, cowering when they saw Draco.

_Of course._

He shoved past them, and stopped when he saw her, deeply immersed in a book. He glanced at the spine, and found himself curious when the author was not one that he knew of.

Without thinking, he asked, "Who's Shakespeare?"

She jumped, eyes widening when she saw him. She visibly gulped and looked away, licking her lips before saying, "You seriously have never heard of him?"

He frowned, wondering what was so interesting about the salt dispenser as he haughtily replied, "Should I?"

She turned to him, still wide-eyed. She blinked a few times.

"But he's one of the greatest writers of all time!" she argued.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Must not be that great if I've never heard of him."

She opened her mouth, about to say something to contradict him, until Leo, Piper and Clarisse came in.

"Good morning!" Leo chirped, and Annabeth smiled at them. Piper's blue eyes settled on a box of cornflakes, and she eagerly poured out a bowl for herself while Clarisse was still searching for food in the cupboards. Leo was making himself some toast, and she started to finish her juice.

Through all these movements, she noticed that Draco had stayed put, looking at Leo distastefully, but there was an unmistakeable look of hunger in his eyes.

"You're not eating, Draco?" she asked, and as soon as those words escaped her mouth, she felt, rather than saw, everyone look at her. Inwardly, she cringed. It _was _common courtesy to ask, wasn't it?

"I'm not hungry," he stated.

"You must be," she said, giving a pleading glance at Piper before looking at him again, "You hardly ate anything last night."

At this, he smirked. "You noticed, did you?"

Thankfully, Piper decided to help her right when she didn't know what to say. "Have some cereal, Draco, I know I was famished even after all that I ate last night," she handed him a clean bowl as he stared at her.

His eyes narrowed and his voice was menacing as he growled, "What did you call me?"

Piper's eyes widened, and she squeaked. "Draco. It's your name, isn't it?"

"I didn't give you permission to use it," he hissed.

She tilted her chin and looked at him indignantly. "Yes you did, yesterday morning, remember?"

"Well, I take it back."

"Annabeth called you Draco, and you didn't seem to mind," she pointed out.

He blinked, taken aback. His words were at loss. The awkward silence stretched, and he was aware of how everyone was staring back and forth between him and Chase, who was staring at the ground with a slight tinge to her cheeks. He knew what a blush looked like on so many girls who were so infatuated with him, but on her, it seemed different. He noticed that her brows were furrowed.

Was she angry?

"We'll just call you Drake, then!" the black-haired guy exclaimed, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Just like that, the silent spell broke.

The blue-eyed girl smiled, and nodded. "Drake's good," she agreed.

Clarisse sneered, "It sure is, hey, Drakie?"

He glared at her. Somehow, she reminded him of Pansy. He inwardly shuddered. All the more reason to stay away from her. He was trying to shrug off- _his name's also a constellation... Gemini? Libra? Leo-_ Leo's arms from his shoulders when he heard her quietly say his new nickname for a few times, as if testing it.

"Drake. Drake. _Drake_,"she spoke, each time different.

The words seemed alien on her tongue, so different from the way Leo and the others said it, and he didn't like it.

"It's Draco," he blurted out.

She looked at him, her grey eyes curious. "What?"

"Call me Draco," he said softly, abruptly turning around to get out. He paused, glancing at Leo. "Get the twins to bring some food to my room. Tell them to do it or else." With that, he confined himself again.

...

Piper turned and gaped at her. Her face was unbelieving, and honestly, she didn't believe it either. Piper's eyes narrowed, and she accusingly asked, "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

"He's- he just...didn't like his new nickname, that's all," she stammered, surprising herself as she felt her cheeks colour.

"He didn't protest when we said it!"

"He was being nice?" she winced when her voice sounded unsure, even to her.

"He favours you somehow, and you know it! Now what is it that you're not telling me?" Piper demanded.

Annabeth panickedly searched the room for a hole or something, so she could just _hide _from all this. Who knew that Piper would catch on to these things? _Hello, Annabeth, she's a daughter of Aphrodite._

"Well?"

She squirmed, and opened her mouth to deny it, until Harry and Ginny came in. "Morning," he smiled to her, unaware of the confrontation being held. She had never felt so thankful in that moment. She smiled back at them, replying, "Morning," purposely avoiding Piper's 'We'll talk about this later' look.

Ginny sat at the end of the table, with Harry opposite her. Both of them started to pour themselves some cereal. Clarisse had already settled for some nachos as she leaned against the countertop near the door.

"Slept well?" she asked them, just to make small talk among breakfast. Then she noticed their slightly pale complexions, and the dark rings under their eyes.

Yesterdays's events replayed in her mind, and she winced at her insensitivity. How could they? One of their close friends was turned into stone, then back to life, only to be told that she wasn't supposed to live. However, they both managed small smiles, and Ginny replied, "Just fine, thanks."

Carefully, she asked, "Where are they? Hermione and Ron." They were the only ones she hadn't seen today, excluding Nico, who'll only wake in the afternoon.

"Here we are," said Hermione as she walked into the kitchen, with Ron just behind her. "So what's for breakfast?" she asked, plopping down on the chair beside Ginny.

Annabeth avoided her red eyes and pretended that she really was cheerful, not scared. "Cereal, or nachos, if you prefer," she gestured to Clarisse.

Hermione didn't hide her disapproval as she scrunched her nose.

"Do you have any eggs?" she turned to Annabeth.

She shrugged. "I think there are a dozen eggs in the back of the cupboards. But unless you like to eat them raw, then they're pretty useless. We don't have any fire to cook with. I don't know why we don't have any microwave in here."

"So you're saying there're utensils, just no fire?" Hermione inquired.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah..."

Hermione revealed her wand. "Then I suppose they'll do just fine."

After having a hearty breakfast of toast with eggs, since junk food could only fill so much, Annabeth finally left the kitchen. She smiled when she saw Travis and Connor hurry to bring food for Draco, and frowned when she saw that the living room still had a force field. She'd have to force him to change it back later.

Once inside her room, she regretted leaving the kitchen. It was noisy in there, with Ron's loud conversations and the Stoll brothers worrying about being 'stupefied', whatever they had been going on about. With all that noise, she could hardly hear her thoughts. But now...

The dream immediately filled her mind. Percy, her discomfort, her coldness.

She didn't know why that out of all things, Draco's words pierced her thoughts at that time.

_"I envy you."_

Why did he say that? Why would he envy _her, _when from day one he had said nothing but how superior he was, how she couldn't possibly compare to him. Yet, he still...

_"I'm sorry." _

What could he possibly be sorry for? Sure, he was a jerk to her a couple of times, okay, a lot of times, but she'd never expected him to say sorry. In fact, she'd never thought he was even capable of being sorry. But he was.

_"Call me Draco."_

She didn't know what to think when he said that. Before, she had always called him by his first name because she knew it irritated him, but now... Now, he practically pleaded to be called by his given name. It was... Confusing, to say the least.

There was a knock from the door. Surprised, she took a moment to clear her thoughts, and then open the door.

She smiled when she saw it was Jason.

"Hey," she greeted, gesturing him to come in and take a seat. He did, and she left the door slightly open, opting to lean against the door frame.

Straight to the point, he asked, "Did something happen?"

"What?" she said, surprised. She noticed her panicky voice, and cleared her throat. "What do you mean?" she rephrased.

But she was still panicking. Why would Jason be asking her this? Yes, he's close with Piper, but surely he wouldn't be interested in her non-existent love life. Annabeth mentally slapped herself. What love life? She has no love life, unless you counted the tragic heroine whose love went missing, but then he was actually kidnapped, and said heroine has to save him... _Stop. Thinking. About it!_

Jason shrugged. "Since Chiron has suggested us to try and contact Percy, we thought that you had maybe... did."

He glanced at her, and though she knew that was all he meant, nothing else, she could also hear his hidden question: "Did you dream about him?"

It still feels personal.

Keeping the emotions out of her voice as much as possible, she answered, "Actually, I met him in my dream last night."

At this, Jason's posture shifted and he was instantly alert. "Did you talk to him?"

Annabeth nodded, and then clarified, "He said that he'll be at the Roman's camp in a couple of hours. In fact, he should be there by now, he said something about being in time about a feast for tuna... Wait.. That's odd..."

She was surprised how this information had went past her. Surely a feast _for tuna _would snap some sense into her? She chuckled humorlessly. _I was that anxious to get away from him. Gods, how much more selfish can you get? Maybe he wasn't going back... _Maybe she had misheard, judging by how much she paid attention to what he has said. How could she dismiss him saying feast _for tuna?_

"The feast of Fortuna," Jason suddenly said.

She snapped her head up back at him. "What?"

He looked at her with a mix of awe and horror. "Jason, what is it?" she urged.

"The feast of Fortuna. I remember, " he said in a rush. "That's when most Roman campers will gather to determine whether the year ahead will be good or not."

"Okay..?" Maybe Jason was happy that he remembered, but honestly, he's already remembered so much and she didn't see the relevance of it in all this.

"_Most Romans, _Annabeth, don't you get it?" he persisted.

Slowly, she shook her head 'No'.

Instantly, he took a breath and calmed himself. Her skin prickled at once, and at the last second, she sensed what he was going yo say. With a steady gaze at her, he quietly said, "We're walking right into the lion's den."

**I'll just say this. Since I read SoN last year, my memory of it is not much, because I haven't read it twice. So... Yeah, those last parts may not fit. I'll check later. **

**Lots of thanks to those who reviewed and favorited! I got a kick in the gut everytime I get those alerts, and I was slacking off. **

**Just so you know, I'm not going to update until I get ten reviews. TEN. It's so close. **

**-NK**

**PS Happy *belated* new year! :3**


	20. Plain Paranoia

Percy awoke with a great start, and would have fallen face flat on the ground metres below him if Hazel didn't have quick reflexes and steadied him before he could. His heart skipped a beat, and he smiled relievedly at her.

"Thanks. I would've been a goner," he said sheepishly.

Hazel smiled lightly at him. "It's ok. I knew it was a bad idea to let Frank fall asleep and guard this all on my own. But he just looked so tired and even you seemed to be in a deep sleep." She gazed at Frank, a smile gracing her features.

Hazel's statement struck something in him. He frowned. He didn't _feel_ like he just woke from a deep sleep. In fact, he felt like he barely had any sleep at all.

In a rush, everything that had happened overwhelmed his mind.

He dreamed about her. _Annabeth._

He started to smile, but then it dropped. She pulled away from him. They were hugging, but she pulled away from him. Immediately, he wished that he hadn't remembered.

His jaw clenched.

They were so happy to see each other... But in a moment, everything changed. She wasn't so happy anymore. She was upset. She didn't want to be with him; shut herself away from him, and he had no idea why.

He tried to remember whether they were on good terms or not the last time they saw each other. The memory was still vague; he couldn't exactly remember what had happened, but he honestly felt that they were on good terms when he... went missing. In fact, he was even sure that he'd told her that he loved her.

"Is everything all right?"

He jerked when Hazel's soft voice broke his train of thoughts.

"I..." he paused, unsure whether to tell her or not, and then mentally slapped himself. This was _Hazel_. Of course he could trust her. He took a breath, and said shakily, "I dreamt about her."

Her eyes widened. "Just dreamt, or...?"

He shook his head. "It was real connection."

A grin broke out on her face. "You're going to see her soon, don't worry, Percy."

He lightly ruffled his hair, sighing. "It's just... She seemed... Off, somehow. Different. Like she's... Changed."

"You haven't seen each other in a long time, that's all. Nothing's changed, and I'll bet she's nervous to see you too," she assured him.

He sighed again, muttering, "I hope so. I sure to gods hope so."

...

Annabeth blinked rapidly a few times, and cleared her throat. And then she inhaled deep breaths for a couple of times. Yet she felt that all these actions were useless, because she still felt constricted, she still felt parched, and she still like she was signing her death warrant. "You're saying that..."

Jason winced. "A hundred roman campers, I could probably convince, but hundreds? That's a different matter altogether," he mumbled the last part, wringing his fingers together.

"We're dead meat," she whispered, wide-eyed.

"Technically, a meat can't be dead, I mean, it's never alive in the first place, unless you're talking about the meat of a live cow, or lamb, you know, but then-"

"Jason."

"You wouldn't call it meat, you'd call it cow, right? I mean, what kind of person sees a cow, a live cow-"

"Jason."

"_Mooing_, and goes, 'hey, it's a meat!'? No, you'd day it was a cow, not meat, whether alive or dead-"

"Jason!" she grasped his shoulders and shook him, "Snap out of it! We are _not_ backing out and giving up now, not after all that we've been through! We're going to San Francisco, head to the roman camp, and-"

"And what?" He looked at her with fierce hopelessness. "What would we do after that? I mean, sure, there are a number of campers that trusts me and will listen to me, but that's only a small portion of the ex-campers that'll be there!"

She licked her lips, rubbing her temples. "Look, I know the chances-"

"Know? Know? What would you know?" he added an almost hysterical laugh.

He pointed a finger towards her. "You've never lost your memory, have you? Never had the memory of your whole life altered, and thrown in a situation where suddenly, you're supposed to lead some people you barely knew, and expected to know everything?"

Annabeth's face scrunched in almost confusion, but she didn't stop him as he vented out his frustrations. He started pacing back and forth as he rented, unfazed by her stillness.

"And now, I'm supposed to convince hundreds of romans, many of them my seniors, to trust their enemy when I'm bringing a ship of them, loaded with weapons?" He stopped his pacing and turned to her. His features right then could only be described as torn.

"How am I supposed to do that?" he croaked.

Annabeth's heart broke bit by bit at the sight of him.

Jason was never like this. He was always collected. Always.

And to see him crack like this under the pressure, Annabeth felt a huge surge of protectiveness wash over her for him.

Soundlessly, she took a step forwared and hugged him, willing even just a small piece of comfort to flow from her to him. He was tense, but gradually, he sighed and his shoulders relaxed. Even though he was younger than her, and she was quite tall, he was still taller than her by a few inches.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she murmured to his shoulder, "And when that time comes, we'll stand by you, no matter what."

"Why?"

She smiled, even though he couldn't see it. "We trust you."

"We trust you, Jason," she repeated with more conviction when he didn't reply.

Slowly, he returned her hug, and when they pulled back, his gentle smile was back on his face. "Thanks, Annabeth. I just... Lost it for a while there, that's all," he lowered his head and she saw a slight pink tinge to his cheeks as he mumbled, "I should've handled it better."

Annabeth smiled warmly at him and gave his left arm a squeeze for good measure. "We don't expect you to be perfect, nor do we expect you to have this quest run along smoothly. You're doing your best, and that's all that matters."

He grinned at her, and determination was set on his face. "Looks like we might need that invention of Leo's after all."

She quirked her eyebrows at him, a light smile also playing on her lips.

"Looks like it."

...

"So when were you going to tell me that you and Drake are the best of friends?" Piper said almost nonchalantly, but Annabeth detected a hint of betrayal in her voice.

More or less ten minutes ago, Jason had left to discuss with Leo, and now, Piper came in and became her surrogate high school type best friend.

She sighed.

"No one said that we're the best of friends, Piper," she said, deciding to lay down on her bed.

"And no one said that you're cozy with each other, too."

Annabeth frowned and sat up. "What do you mean, cozy?"

Piper huffed at her in irritation. "For someone who's supposedly so smart, you don't know what cozy means?"

In return, Annabeth scowled. "I know what it means, I just need some clarification on what you actually _meant._"

The Native-American descent played with her hair, twirling it, while unconsciously gnawing at her lip. Finally, she said, "It's just... You seem so comfortable with each other. So... at ease. Even though you've only known each other for a few days, it doesn't exactly seem like that. More like... You've known each other for a long time, and never exactly became friends but somehow got used to each other. Granted, you guys weren't exactly on good terms at first... But that's what confuses me."

She stopped, and glanced down at Annabeth, who went back to lying down on the bed. "What happened?" she asked after concluding that her friend wasn't going to offer any sort of information voluntarily.

Annabeth shrugged, but didn't glance her way. "We just got used to each other, like you said."

"I would understand that if he acts the same way with us like the way he acts with you. But it's not. So what happened?" she demanded.

"Maybe it was the slap I gave him," Annabeth mused out loud, her tone joking, although inwardly she was desperately trying to get Piper to forget about it.

It seemed to be working. "What slap?"

Annabeth casually shrugged and inconspicuously smirked. "He was being a jerk, like usual, but I got sick of him one time and just slapped him. Maybe it made him come to his senses," she said nonchalantly.

"Oh. My. Gods," Piper breathed.

Annabeth's eyes snapped to hers. "What?"

There was a gleam in her ever-changing-now-turquoise-eyes, and her mouth was half open, with the corners tilting up slightly. Her features radiated immense surprise, but it was gleeful. "I get it now,"she whispered, but Annabeth didn't hear her and repeated, "What?"

Piper's aqua eyes shifted to hers, and the corner of her lips lifted higher. "It's that thing," she said in an awed voice.

"What thing?" Annabeth's face was scrunched up in confusion.

"Y'know, when a girl hits a guy, and because of that, it jolted his pheromones or something, therefore causing said guy to ultimately change his attitude and fall for said girl? That thing!" Piper was grinning now.

"Where did you get that from?"

"I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, I know these kinds of things!" she replied, for once not embarrased about it in one way or another.

"Yeah, well, maybe not so much because what you said doesn't make sense," Annabeth answered back.

"It makes perfect sense!" Piper argued, "How else would you explain Draco's weird behavior?"

"Drake," Annabeth corrected her without thinking much about it, and immediately regretted it as Piper exclaimed, "Not to mention _your _weird behavior!"

"I swear," she continued, "_something_ is definitely going on between you and Draco-"

"Drake," Annabeth automatically corrected again, biting her tongue after she did so.

Piper sighed exasperatedly. "See? You're even getting posessive about another girl calling him by his real name!"

"I'm not-" Annabeth started to argue, but at the younger girl's pointed look, she stopped.

"We just got over our differences, and understand each other, okay?" She hugged her legs, refusing to meet Piper's pitying gaze, and ended the conversation by softly saying, "Let's just leave it at that." Although Piper didn't say any more of it, she still stubbornly looked at Annabeth, trying to get her to confess something, anything, but Annabeth was stubborn too, and determinedly avoided her gaze, observing the snail-paced clouds instead.

Eventually, Piper sighed and got up from her bed. "You win, so I guess I won't mention any more of it," she said, turning to the door. At the last second, she turned, saying, "Just remember this: if you love two people, and are torn between them, then pick the second, because if you had truly loved the first, then you wouldn't have fallen for the second."

When Annabeth did turn to look at her, her mouth open, full of questions, Piper had already left.

Slowly blinking, she shifted her eyes back to the clouds, though her mind was else where. "What does that have to do with anything?" she finally muttered, deciding that what her friend had said wasn't worth mulling over anymore.

...

Hermione sighed once more, looking away from the darkening skies, and instead looked at her friends.

"Honestly, Ron, I'm fine. You don't have to hover over me all the time," she complained, with a small smile on her lips.

Ron wasn't convinced.

"I would stop worrying only when there aren't any chances of flying monsters randomly crashing through the window and attack you," he replied curtly.

She sighed, and turned her pleading eyes towards Harry for help.

He shrugged, but there were creases linig his forehead. "He's right, Hermione. We're not safe."

"_We're _not safe? Thanks for pointing that out Harry, since when have we ever been safe?" she exclaimed, shooting up from her window seat. "Ever since the time we've met, we've never been safe! There's always something that's going after you, and we got dragged in! I can't even _ask _for proper reading time, because there's always something _you_ needed help with that you can't figure out yourself!"

Her ranting stopped, with her breathing heavily as she stared at Harry.

Her heart dropped at his expressionless face.

"Harry-" she started, but he cut her off.

"So you're saying it's all my fault then?" he said with an eerie calmness.

"You know that's not what I meant-" she tried to reason.

"No, I think I know it perfectly," he said, his voice louder now, signs of his anger given away by the clenching of his muscles, "So shall I stay away from you then? I think I should, seeing that I'm the one who's always attracting trouble aren't I? I'm the one who's always bringing you into life-threatening situations?"

"Mate-" Ron grabbed Harry's hand, but he pushed him away. Just about when he was going to continue, Ginny interrupted, "Stop it! Both of you!"

She was standing in between them, and Ron was by Harry's side. She gazed at him and Hermione forlornly.

"Look, Harry. None of us blame you for anything. You can't help but try to stop what Voldemort's doing, and that includes all of us. So stop beating yourself up. And Hermione-" Instead of saying anything, she stepped forward and hugged her frail frame.

Hermione shook as tears escaped her eyes.

Both Harry and Ron hugged her when they saw this. "Oh, Hermione... I'm so sorry," Harry whispered into her hair.

Her lips trembled, and she finally admitted, "I don't want to die. Not yet, not without all of you fighting beside me."

"You won't. We won't let you," Ron said fiercely. She whimpered.

"You won't, Hermione. That's a promise."

**FINALLY! I'll bet some of you will say. I though she'll never update it! **

**Yes, well, I have. Hurray!**

**So life has been kinda cruel to me lately... A close relative died, on the same day that one of my best friends did something so cruel... **

**You guys are pretty stubborn. But hey, so am I! I wanted a ten, but, meh, I'll take nine. Thank you SO VERY MUCH for the reviews. I never thought I'd have any(much) and you reviewers made me do this :)**

**I also love new reviewers, it's like making new friends. **

**So I was thinking that I'd extend this story to them returning to Hogwarts (along with Percy and the gang, yay!), but then I'd have to take this on step by step first... Sigh...**

**TEN!**

**-NK**


	21. Both of Us

"Travis! Connor! Get back here! Now!" Annabeth screeched in a way that made Draco's ears pierce and him to laugh at the same time. Oh, they were in for it now.

Somehow, those troll brothers got themselves locked out of- Jason, was it?-'s room, and since he more or less didn't lift the spell on the living room, they had a camp-out outside Annabeth's door.

Why, he did not know, but he sure as hell didn't care, because as Annabeth woke up and of course went out to have a breath of fresh air- well, do imagine what happened. And it didn't help that they camped out with all the food from the pantry. Especially the ones that they haven't finished eating the night before.

The look of pure horror on their faces were priceless.

It seems, he just recently learned, that no one, _no one_ messes with Annabeth Chase. And he kind of liked that.

Right now, she looked feisty. There was a tinge of red to her cheeks out of anger, her gray irises were blazing, and her curly hair framing her face was wild. He had an urge to brush the hair from her eyes, to soften her look, to be the one who caused her to blush like that. But he couldn't. He knew that.

"We didn't mean to! Really! It was just an accident!" the taller one reasoned.

"Please, Annabeth! You know we love you too much to do such a thing!" the other pleaded. It was all rather amusing.

Both of them were standing on one side, terrified, while Annabeth was on the other; hands on her hips and her lips firm in a tight line.

"You-" she hissed, and Draco couldn't help the chuckle that left his lips.

Her eyes darted to him. Uh-oh.

Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the red on her puffed out cheeks seemed to darken.

"It's not funny!" she stamped her foot. Stamped her foot?

He had no control over his laugh that followed after that, and the more she protested, the more laughter escaped from his mouth. Soon, the troll brothers joined in, and when Clarisse, and the other girl entered the room, they laughed too. He just couldn't help it.

But the laughter on his lips soon died when he heard her door slam.

She'd left.

He stared at her door, speechless, while the others continued their laughing fit.

Suddenly, nothing was hilarious anymore.

Hesitantly, he went to her door. A few soft knocks. No response.

He knocked again. "Annabeth?" he gently said.

For a few seconds, there was no sound, but then he heard her muffled voice. "What? Came to laugh at me again?" Her voice was shaky, and he felt like he'd been kicked in the gut for making her feel like that.

"No. No, I'm not," he replied. Silence. "I'm sorry," he finally said.

No answer came from her door. His forehead creased as he frowned. "Annabeth?"

"Go away," she finally said.

Draco paused, contemplating it. He didn't usually act like this, never did, but then again, he'd never really encountered someone like her before. If this was anybody else, he wouldn't care to wait and would just walk away. Hell, he wouldn't even care to knock on the door and check if they're okay. But this wasn't anybody else.

"Tell me what's wrong." The words escaped from him before he even thought about it.

"You! That's what's wrong!" her raised voice was now clearer than before.

"Me?" he asked confusedly.

He could hear her huff through the door. "Yes, you. Now you know. Leave," she said shortly.

"I don't understand," he insisted.

"You don't need to understand! Leave. Me. Be!"

"No!"

"Go!"

"No!"

"Just go!"

"No!"

Her door opened, making him stumble forward for a second, before he regained his balance, as he was leaning on it. He took a step back and took in her appearance.

Her hair was disheveled, as if she's run her hands through it multiples of times, her posture was stooping and worn, and her eyes were red-rimmed.

"Why-" he started to ask, but she furiously pushed him backwards, making him slam back on the wall. Although teary, her eyes were still ablaze. There were drying tear-tracks on her cheeks. She was about to say something when he suddenly raised his left hand. Seconds before his fingers reached her, he had a momentary flash of déjà vu of just a few nights ago, where he didn't want to risk it. But now, he didn't care. Gently, he wiped her tears.

For a few seconds, their gray eyes locked, and in that moment, he simply felt like letting it all go.

Screw the world. He just found something worth holding onto, and he'd be damned if he had to let her go just because he was told to.

So what if she wasn't a witch?

So what if she was muggle-born?

So what if she was stubborn, and hard-headed, and practically impossible to get through?

In those few seconds, these thoughts were running through his mind, and he was considering it. Until she pushed him away. Slapped his hand from her. Put her venomous mask back on.

"Just leave, Draco," she hissed before shutting herself back inside her room.

He stared at her door, face blank of his emotions. He turned, and finally complied.

…

"_Annabeth, what's wrong?" his sea-green eyes looked worriedly at her. She loved how expressive his eyes were, how honest and so open for everyone to see. _

_She chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Nothing, Seaweed Brain. Just thinking what you'd do without me."_

"_Die, probably," he muttered, and she laughed out loud. There was a pink tinge to his cheeks as he realized that he'd said it out loud. She smiled lightly, thinking how cute he looked when he was embarrassed. Her eyes widened as she computed what just crossed her mind._

_Quickly, she shook her head. "It's not like that," she mumbled, more to convince herself._

"_What?" he asked, his dark eyebrows scrunched together. That looked cute too._

_She shook her head harder. Snap out of it! He's your friend! He's your best friend for years now!_

"_Annabeth?" he took her hand, and her breath hitched in her throat._

_His sea-green eyes met with hers, filled with concern._

"_Tell me what's wrong," he said softly._

_She observed him, noting how he looked so much like a hero with the sun rays hitting his back, highlighting his silhouette. She tried to memorize the way his skin looked golden from the light, how his grey eyes looked illuminated even in the darkening sky._

_Wait. Grey eyes? She took a step back, and realized with shock that it wasn't Percy she's with, it's someone else, someone with platinum blonde hair and piercing grey eyes-_

NO!

Annabeth pulled at her hair again, trying to stop the horrendous thoughts that were engulfing her brain.

Why? Why, why, why, why, why?

Sea-green eyes. The boy I love has sea-green eyes. His hair is black. He has pale skin- no! No, no, no, it's not pale, it's slightly tanned- and he always has that twinkle in his eyes full of mischief, and he always pays back when people prank on him- no, no, he doesn't! does he? No, he doesn't!

His name's Percy Jackson, he's my best friend, he helped me get through the good and the bad, he sometimes misunderstands me- no, no, he understands me perfectly! He know what I think most of the time-

_She stomped off, faintly remembering saying something about keeping watch._

"_What's with her?" she heard him ask Rachel._

_Rachel. The thought of her and Percy made Annabeth grit her teeth together. Her pace quickened just as she heard Rachel say, "You'll never understand, Percy."_

She gasped, another fresh pool of tears forming in her eyes. Why was her mind torturing her like this? Was this some side effect of staying inside a flying ship with no freedom? Was her mind playing tricks on her and she was simply hallucinating?

She sobbed, staring blankly at the scratches on her arms. It's not helping. She could still feel his touch.

…

The tense air inside the kitchen was unbearable. All the tension was getting to him, and ever since he stepped foot inside the room, Leo's hands became busy, trying to ease off his nervousness. Truthfully, he had no idea what was happening as of late. Although Harry and his other friends, and Clarisse, Connor, Travis, Jason and Piper were okay, it seemed that the two people locking themselves up were not.

He knew something big had probably happened.

No matter what, Annabeth wouldn't come out, and no one's spotted her for the last twelve hours, and the same could be said about Drake, although he was more vocal in demanding himself to be left alone.

Another mini-camera done.

Beside him, Jason sighed, finally setting his hands down on the table. He looked tired as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"What happened between those two?" he asked.

Clarisse snorted from the other side of the kitchen. "Who cares? It's not like it's a major problem."

Jason glared at her. "It is. Without Annabeth with us to talk strategy, and making sure we don't do anything stupid, we'll die in the hands of the Romans."

From the kitchen table, Ron squeaked. "Die?" he repeated, terrified.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He didn't really mean it, Ronald, it's just a figure of speech."

His petrified eyes turned to Jason's. "Is it?"

Jason, probably sensing it wouldn't be good to say otherwise, smiled tightly. "Yeah. Figure of speech." Ron sighed, relieved. "Back to the matter at hand," he continued, "Anybody knows what happened?"

Piper visibly nibbled her lower lip before saying, "I think she just misses Percy. And Drake's just in a period, like always."

"But that doesn't make sense. Not to be rude or anything, but she always misses Percy. Why shut herself in now? Why not earlier? What triggered this?"

Silence.

Realization dawned in his eyes. "Are you saying…?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but that's what it looks like," Piper answered, worried.

"You mean she's starting to…" Leo piped up.

She nodded. "I think so."

"But he…" Jason trailed off.

"He does. Or at least is starting to. But she's…" Piper continued.

"…running away because she's holding on," Leo finished.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and the others stared back and forth between the three.

"Now I see what we must look like to others," Harry mumbled, while Hermione and Ron nodded, agreeing with him.

"You can't imagine," Ginny joked.

Jason sighed, rubbing his forehead. He glanced at his two best friends. "What should we do?" Leo shrugged, his looks saying, 'I have no idea.' Jason looked at Piper, willing at her to help him in this. For a minute, she just sat there, staring back at him, though he could see she was actually thinking.

"I think they should resolve this by themselves," she finally suggested.

He groaned. "That's it? That's what you suggest?"

"It's not exactly our business, Jason, and it is entirely up to Annabeth if she wants to pursue this or not."

"Doesn't she love him too much for that?"

"She does. But love can only last so long when their memory isn't meddled with," Piper replied, before standing up and leave.

**Hey there! It's been so long, that it took a while to get my groove back. (Did I just say that?) But as you know, my laptop had no MWord (Which now does! But it's-er-you know. ARRRRGH, MATEY.), plus I was busy with school and sports and extra-curriculars (aka electives), that continuing this asap wasn't my number one priority.**

**But as I said, I got my groove back, so hopefully the updates will be consistent now!**

**Oh, and not to mention you didn't review much. But I appreciate them. **

**AND I will admit, I haven't planned how this will end. Things might work, things might not. Keep an open mind, yeah?**

**-NK**

**p.s. Occurrence of any events may be purely fictional. lol.**


	22. Stop and Stare

The door stood tall, silent, unmoved, as if mocking her. She took in a ragged breath. She can do this. Of course she can. Her eyes darted left and right, like expecting someone's going to jump out at her, pointing, screaming what a coward she was. She was. She _is._

Waves of nausea were running through her body. Her next breath seemed too difficult, too heavy.

"I can do this."

All she'd been doing was running away. The whole day she locked herself up in the room, and every time Piper or Clarisse or anybody came in the room when she unlocked it, she pretended to be asleep. But it's time.

She knew it; Leo had told her the exact time when they would arrive.

And now they really have arrived.

She didn't think it would be that easy. Only one obstacle throughout the five days' journey? Highly impossible, in demigod world. It should be impossible. Yet here they were.

No hold-up. No questions. Everything went smoothly.

But why does she feel like everything, from the acknowledgement of the guards, to the opening of the gates, and now to the somewhat welcoming feel since the arrival of the ship- seems wrong?

_You're thinking too much, Annabeth._

He's out there.

_They were informed, and their leader's coming back._

He's near.

_And they know that a truce needs to be made in these crucial times._

She can't do this.

Quickly, she ran to the toilet, and dry-heaved. Nothing comes out. How can it, when the last meal she had was two days ago? Tears sting at her eyes. She glanced at the mirror as she weakly stood.

_He can't see me like this._

Her hair was a tangled mess. The curls were unruly, and after going so long without brushing it, they became unmanageable. The shine usually there was gone, but then, it's always been gone since the last half a year.

_He'll be disgusted._

She hasn't had a shower in days. Or cleaned herself in any way for that matter. Her faded orange camp shirt was crumpled, and her jeans had some crumbs from the food that Connor and Travis left at the front of her door two nights ago. Her skin felt sticky and itchy, and she hasn't cleaned the crusts of dried blood on her forearms.

_He'll hate me._

She could feel everything. His gentle fingers as he brushed away her tears. His firm and undoubting grasp as he pulled her away from danger. His protectiveness when he didn't let go. His shield, his belief, his humanness.

Her gray eyes looked torn; half filled with happiness and half filled with fear.

_They look like his eyes._

Frustrated, she threw a punch towards the ever-perfect glass.

Because what scared her the most was that she didn't know from where her happiness came from. She didn't know what the fear was for either.

A hesitant knock on the door. "Annabeth? It's… Are you ready?" Piper's concerned voice came through the door.

She tried to put on her mask, tried to put on that cheery voice, say that she's okay, just nervous, even tried to put on her calm, collected voice, but she found that everything that she wanted to say was lodged in her throat.

She tried again. Nothing.

Finally she choked, and let the tears stream down her face. _I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't…._

She struggled to pull herself together. _Get a grip, Annabeth. So you're scared. Nothing big. You've been scared before. But you got over it. How is this any different? Where did your courage go?_ She scolded herself.

She sobbed again as she thought of the answer: _It went missing the same moment he did._

"Annabeth?"

The door opened, and she could feel, rather than hear, Piper's footsteps walking towards her.

"Oh, Annabeth," she sighed and immediately pulled the older girl into her arms.

"_I'm fine,"_ Annabeth tried futilely to say again, but again, she couldn't, and choked instead. But she figured Piper knew what she was trying to say, and didn't believe what she said, because she whispered, "You can't torture yourself like this. Things happen. Things we don't want to, things we wish would never happen, but it happens anyway. We can get through this."

Piper pulled away after patting her back for a few minutes, and looked softly at her tears-stricken face. "Chin up, Annabeth."

Annabeth smiled weakly and raised her hand to wipe off the tears, until Piper's hand caught her. Annabeth frowned at her, confused. Why was she- Annabeth noticed where her cerulean eyes were staring at. Her arm. Her additional arm sleeves were rolled up.

Immediately, she tugged her arm, trying to cover what Piper has clearly already seen. For a moment, when Piper didn't let go, she feared that Piper would expose her, that she'd drag her out and tell the others, and then all of them would give her looks of disgust… that Jason would then bring Percy along and he'd see her, and he'd be ashamed; ashamed of her patheticness, ashamed of what she had become, ashamed that this was the girl that he loved…

But just a second before Annabeth decided to get down on her knees and beg, Piper let her go.

Her eyes were misty, her jaw taut, and Annabeth suddenly knew that she was trying to hold herself together, what Annabeth had failed to do.

"I know it's hard- how hard, I don't know, probably harder than I could handle- but it doesn't have to come to this, Annabeth," she said, her voice just above a whisper, when she finally composed herself.

She didn't know what to say, but a simple, "Thank you."

Piper nodded curtly and headed towards the door. "Clean yourself up. You can't hide any longer, and we've already met them," she paused, before adding softly, "I think he's searching for you."

For a second, she felt like her old self again: happy, carefree, in love.

…

Anxiousness.

That's all he felt, all he could ever feel since the news last night. He couldn't sleep, couldn't think, couldn't eat. He was too anxious.

And that anxiousness built as he saw their boat in the horizon, slowly gliding its way into the area of the camp. It eased when he saw the guards letting them through, and when all the other Romans seemed fine with it. Well, most Romans.

The knot in his gut loosened when the ship landed, and no one attacked them or brandished their weapons. The worry was starting to dissipate when he shook hands with their leader, or rather, the Romans' leader, Jason, and he even felt reassured when he saw Clarisse, Connor, Travis, Nico, and a few unfamiliar but friendly faces.

But when the one person he was hoping so much to see didn't appear, the anxiousness took home in his gut again.

He attempted to not look that desperate.

Maybe she was busy. Maybe she needed to sort some things first. Maybe she didn't want to come.

The anxiousness attacked him full-force.

They introduced each other. They discussed what was happening. They discussed strategy.

But all the time, the worry didn't fade and his thoughts stayed on her.

He thought he saw a younger girl, who looks native and came a few minutes later than Jason, give him a pitiful look before she looked forward and concentrated on the meeting again. What did that look mean? Does she know where she is? Does she know why she isn't here? Maybe that pitiful look was because she knew the exact reason why she didn't come, and it has something to do with him-

"Sorry I'm late."

Octavian stopped talking- who gave him the authority to even speak, he had no idea- and glared at the now open doors. "Who are you?" He said through gritted teeth.

Percy couldn't see who was standing there- the light coming from the open door was so bright, and all he could see was a girl's silhouette. He felt his breath hitch and his heart skip a beat.

She looked familiar. Once he replayed her voice, it also sounded familiar.

"I had to get some things done- inform our camp leader and all that- and I had to be sure that there wasn't anybody left behind at the ship-" she continued.

She was walking inside now, slowly, seeming hesitant though her strides were confident. He could see now that she was wearing worn sneakers and faded blue jeans. She was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, and what looked like another green shirt inside with long sleeves.

"I asked who you were, not the reason why you were late," Octavian said sneeringly, then rolled his eyes.

Finally she stepped to the middle of the room, and every single feature of her seemed to hit him, like a sudden breath of life. Her golden waves framing her face, her soft skin, her set lips, her grey eyes.

"Annabeth Chase."

Just as sudden, her eyes darted to him, and he saw the shield behind her eyes crumble. He didn't know why he was just sitting there anymore.

He bolted towards her without any more thought, and held her so tight against him, not wanting to let go. He wanted to remember more- remember her in his arms, the feel of her with him, her heart against his. She was holding him just as tight, shaking, and wondered if she was crying. He pulled away, feeling the need to see her, and he felt complete when he saw her gaze lovingly at him.

Tears were in her eyes; he kissed them away.

She felt so real, and he needed to reassure himself.

He kissed her forehead. He kissed her left cheek. He kissed her right cheek.

He looked at her, nose to nose, and felt his breath taken away just looking at her shining eyes.

He felt a huge grin spreading on his face. "I missed you, Wise Girl," he whispered.

She laughed. It wasn't loud, and it sounded strained like she hasn't laughed for a long time, but it was a genuine laugh. She gazed fondly back at him, an identical smile on her face. "I missed you too, Seaweed Brain."

Tears were leaking from her eyes again, but he brushed them away as he cupped her face, bringing her much closer to him.

"I love you," he whispered, before closing the gap between them, not letting her answer.

Her lips were salty with tears, but he didn't care. He kept kissing her, kept brushing his lips against hers, needing to feel her. She was warm, she was real, she was the only thing that he wanted to hold on to. Only one thought was running through his mind: _Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth…_

He pulled away, ending their kiss with butterfly kisses on the corners of her lips, when she gave indication that she needed to breathe.

Her cheeks were flushed, but she was still smiling. "Welcome back," she said lightly.

He nodded, pecking her lips one more time, before agreeing, "It's good to be back."

**What? Why did I stop in the middle of a happy scene? Because I'm mean! **

**Nah, it's just I've recently finished this great book, but the end was a cliffhanger, and I have to wait ONE WHOLE YEAR before I can know what happens. So yeah. Ok, so that is mean.**

**But I'm so happy with this right now. I am a Percabeth fan too, you know. **

**You know what you gotta do~ to catalyse my writing~ (is that even right?)**

**-NK**


End file.
